Use of EHRs in a Tertiary Hospital During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Purpose Approach Based on Standards

Abstract

This work aims to describe how EHRs have been used to meet the needs of healthcare providers and researchers in a 1,300-beds tertiary Hospital during COVID-19 pandemic. For this purpose, essential clinical concepts were identified and standardized with LOINC and SNOMED CT. After that, these concepts were implemented in EHR systems and based on them, data tools, such as clinical alerts, dynamic patient lists and a clinical follow-up dashboard, were developed for healthcare support. In addition, these data were incorporated into standardized repositories and COVID-19 databases to improve clinical research on this new disease. In conclusion, standardized EHRs allowed implementation of useful multi- purpose data resources in a major Hospital in the course of the pandemic.