US doctors use medical records to fight measles outbreak
US doctors are tapping into their electronic medical records to identify unvaccinated patients and potentially infected individuals to help contain the worst US measles outbreak in 25 years.
New York’s NYU Langone Health network of hospitals and medical offices treats patients from both Rockland County and Brooklyn, two epicenters of the outbreak. It has built alerts into its electronic medical records system to notify doctors and nurses that a patient lives in an outbreak area, based on their Zip code.
“It identifies incoming patients who may have been exposed to measles and need to be assessed,” said Dr. Michael Phillips, chief epidemiologist at NYU Langone Health.
Alerts in a patient’s medical record also prompt conversations with their visitors - who may also have been exposed to the virus - about their own health, prior exposure to measles and vaccination history.
Mount Sinai Health System in New York rolled out a similar program last week, said Dr. Bruce Darrow, its chief medical information officer.
Darrow said it was important because although a patient who comes from a measles-affected Zip code may have passed the screening, family members who visit may have been exposed.
He said the alert system raises awareness for doctors and nurses “to be on lookout not just for our patients, but anybody who comes into the building.”
US officials have reported more than 700 confirmed cases of measles, the highest level since the virus was deemed eliminated in 2000. The measles virus is highly contagious and can cause blindness, deafness, brain damage or death.
At NYU Langone, the alerts were developed using software from Madison, Wisconsin-based Epic Medical Systems. Epic, whose medical records software is used by thousands of U.S. hospitals and clinics, said other customers began requesting their help to address the outbreak.
In response, Epic released a how-to guide last month that incorporated many of the best ideas from its customers fighting the outbreak. The guide walks health systems through ways to use medical records to identify and reach out to patients who are unvaccinated and helps inform doctors on how to screen, track and treat measles patients.
“For example, we can find all those patients missing the MMR vaccine and send out a message to patients or providers,” said Jordan Tucker, a member of the Epic implementation team, who is helping oversee the project.
So far, Epic clients in New York, Illinois, Texas and California are using the system to fight the outbreak.
Illinois has confirmed seven measles cases this year. In response to reports of a potential case in the Chicago area, two hospitals in the suburbs last month sent hundreds of letters to parents urging them to ensure their kids get their measles shots.
“We wanted to do everything we could before it got to us,” said Dr. Michael Caplan, co-medical director of a pediatric partnership between Advocate Children’s Hospital and North University HealthSystem.
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