The Role of Imaging Informatics in Disaster Preparedness During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Disaster preparedness is a major but necessary undertaking for every health care facility. The 2019 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) provided an unforeseen opportunity to compare the response of two radiology departments, University Health System A (UHSA) and University Health System B (UHSAB). Preparing for this disaster was unique since though unexpected, was thought to be detected early enough to allow for sufficient preparation. Unlike many other disasters which are short-term, single events, this has been an on-going event. Changes at both health systems included workflow alterations for exposure reduction to faculty, trainees, and staff. UHSA was able to quickly divert workflow to previously deployed home workstations, while University of Utah Health Sciences Center required 2 to 3 weeks to procure and initialize enough remote workstations to significantly affect departmental operations. Other measures such as universal masking, temperature screening at facility entrances, virtual appointments, and physical barriers were used by both systems to limit patient-to-patient, patient-to-staff, staff-to-patient, and staff-staff physical interaction to help decrease exposure risk. The goal of these preparations is to allow each department to fulfill imaging needs in support of the organizational clinical mission with the flexibility to adapt to the unique and dynamic nature of this disaster.