Automated Contact Tracing
How will you automate contact tracing?
Sagitec HealConnect is a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution deployed on Microsoft Azure. It utilizes Azure services that are FedRAMP, HIPAA, and HITRUST compliant. The solution supports configurable workflows for case investigation, contact tracing, and patient monitoring. It has omnichannel capabilities across SMS, calls, emails, and microsites. Bidirectional SMS can be used for members to ask “quick questions” through messages instead of accessing the call center. Pre-defined templates, along with attachments, can be used for email and SMS. Data exchange with HIE, EMRs, and disease surveillance systems is supported through FHIR. Integrated telephony and multi-mode communications allow users to work remotely. Users can access the solution through laptops, tablets, and smartphones, to perform their tasks.
Client data is logically separated and managed. All data, including call recordings, are encrypted and stored. User roles enforce data access policies.
Does it require lot of effort to deploy your solution?
Our solution requires minimal configuration. Scripts for an investigator and tracer need to be validated. State-specific content like the location of testing centers, support services, and guidelines will be configured in the system. Data intake for case information needs to be setup.
How is your solution innovative?
Strategies for addressing the pandemic are fluid. This requires a system that is secure and flexible to changing protocols.
Sagitec HealConnect is configurable based on the risk stratification of the contacts. For engaged citizens, the protocol can be one call with SMS messaging as the follow-up channel. For citizens that are hard to engage, the protocol can be a combination of calls and SMS.
Key differentiators of HealConnect are:
- Configurable Solution: Protocols can be customized based on demographics, risk acuity, and other parameters.
- Messaging Technology: Help tracers communicate with contacts. Allow contacts to report their status and seek assistance that can make the process more efficient. A 14-day SMS pack for monitoring isolation and checking symptoms reduces the load on tracers.
- Remote working: Integrated telephony, multi-mode communications, and access through multiple devices.
- Fast implementation: Has pre-built workflows and data connectors for rapid 14-day deployment.
- Helper Tools: Disease-specific content, geo-distance calculator for testing centers, FAQs/guidelines for isolation, and quarantine and address lookup.
In how much time can your solution be deployed? Are there any dependencies?
We will have a live system in 14 days for your tracers to start calling. The only dependency from the client for it to work will be the file exchange to provide a daily list of positive cases.
How are you best suited to automate contact tracing?
Sagitec's focus has been state and local government entities – pension systems, unemployment insurance, and Medicaid. Over 5 million members and 800k+ employers use our platform. Our business expertise is using design principles for self-service that reduces manual case management. Our platform allows us to deploy FedRAMP compliant systems with a "no-code" configuration for multiple use cases.
During the current pandemic, our platform has been used for providing Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) for multiple states. It has been stress tested for scale, ease of use, and security. We complemented telephonic outreach with digital channels for conducting health risk assessments for a large Medicaid health plan. The plan was able to double their completion rates with hard to reach members – those who had not responded to over ten phone calls. Fifty percent of the completions happened between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. when it would have been hard to reach members.
Should I be looking at digital contact tracing?
Large tech organizations have proposed digital contact tracing using apps. Google and Apple's tracing system is coming in two separate phases: First, both companies will put out the operating-system-level programming interfaces that allow the health agency apps to tap in and start offering their services. Then, sometime "in the coming months," that'll be followed by an expanded setup in which the actual contact-tracing function is built directly into both Android and iOS. A mobile app will use Bluetooth tracing to exchange beacons basis in which contact is established. It requires individuals to download an app and then opt-in to share their disease status.
Let's examine some challenges with digital contact tracing:
- How many people will opt in to the digital contact tracing process?
The Stanford-connected COVID Watch organization – "a group of over 100 academics, public health experts, and technologists" – estimates that a contact-tracing system would need a 60% adoption rate to make a consequential impact. A mere 12% of people reportedly opted in and used the software in Singapore, where a similar system was put into place. If only 12% of the population is participating, it sure seems like the system would have a tough time giving us any meaningful information about the spread of this virus. - How effective will Bluetooth be for this?
Bluetooth can detect connections from distances of much greater than six feet – so the fact that the software logged contact between you and the infected person's phone doesn't necessarily mean you were exposed in any worrisome way. Beyond that, Bluetooth can detect connections when you're passing by a room or a building, where an actual wall is separating you from the other person and thus there is no physical contact. People in Israel have reported receiving notices of potential exposure after having only distant contact with an infected person – which is as minimal as waving to them from outside of an apartment building. The potential for false positives will make it hard for consistent tracing.
Want to know more? Check out our resources below:
How does a contact tracing operation work?
How does HealConnect automate and improve a contact tracing operation?
Founded in 2004, Sagitec has focused on Public Sector and Healthcare industries. Today, Sagitec solutions are used by over 800k+ contributing employers and 5 million+ members. Sagitec’s HealConnect is an enterprise SaaS platform for Medicaid member engagement, deployed on HITRUST certified Microsoft’s Azure cloud.
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