The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has irrevocably changed the way in which our society and economy functions. However, during times of struggle and adversity, it is common for innovative breakthroughs to occur. Arjun Moorthy and Arun Moorthy (brothers) have recently devised their “Covid19 Risk Profiler”, a web app designed to assist hospitals and health personnel with managing sick patients (including those without Covid-19). With nations throughout the world looking at re-opening their economies, the process of managing the sick community has become even more significant.
Fortunately, both Arjun and Arun were able to spare some time and answer several questions we had about their new Covid10 Risk Profiler.
Hi Arjun and Arun, when did you start ‘Covid19 Risk Profiler’ and what was the main reason?
The Risk Profiler originally began as a strategy to keep cancer patients and clinical staff safe as they continue their treatments through the coronavirus pandemic. Treatments like chemotherapy and radiation can severely weakened the immune system, leaving patients at a much higher risk of contracting the coronavirus. Those with a compromised immune system are more susceptible to the more fatal outcomes attached to Covid-19. Because of this, we decided to build our Covid19 Risk Profiler App in April’20. The goal was to help clinics that continue to treat patients collect advance information about patients before their appointment so they can be triaged appropriately when they visit the clinic for their treatment.
What is the implementation flow of Covid19 Risk Profiler?
Covid19 Risk Profiler can be easily implemented by clinics and hospitals (top flow picture). The only thing needed is an email where they wish to receive the patient information. The bottom flow provides a workflow from a patient’s perspective.
How are the recommendations categorized?
The recommendations change in accordance with patient’s response. One of the following recommendations will be provided based on answers to the questions posed to the patients or customer:
- Normal: Patient OK to be seen with other patients following rules of social distancing
- Monitor patient: Consider separating from other patients and giving patient a mask prior to entering facility
- Isolate patient: This patient has many signs that indicate high risk of having COVID 19. Isolate, mask and consider testing before treatment
- Emergency: Consider triaging to Emergency Room
What are the advantages of using your tool?
Our original idea was to help physicians’ offices to cope more efficiently with the increased workload due to the pandemic. In addition to their usual job descriptions, clinic staff are now spending an additional 20% to 30% of their time screening, triaging, and protecting their patients from the spread of the disease. This unexpected burden is the result of phone calls made to patients prior to appointments to assess their risk of transmitting the disease and putting proper safety protocols in place for all patients.
This is because if each doctor or specialist has the time to effectively triage their patients, then each patient and the clinical staff is in safer health environment. Each hospital will be better equipped at handling the influx of coronavirus patients, since they will have better resource capabilities for peak periods.
In which countries or regions is the tool available?
Covid Risk Profiler can be used worldwide and is currently available in three languages – Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin), and English.
From a distribution perspective, what are your plans for when the crisis has passed?
We believe the app will continue to be valuable till the COVID issue is resolved. As businesses across the country begin to reopen their doors, this web app is ideal for all businesses that have person-to-person contact. Hair and nail salons, law offices, and even restaurants can all benefit from knowing the risk profile of their customers ahead of time. The easy-to-implement app gives them all the information they need, so there are no questions about whether adequate precautions are being taken before the client shows up.
Even once the vaccine has hopefully been discovered, manufactured and commercially distributed, we believe that our app can continue to be used as a way of managing the health of patients and members of the community.
Arjun and Arun thank you for your time!
You can follow up with Arjun Moorthy and Arun Moorthy at www.covid19riskprofiler.org