When a reported 286 patients were in need of hospitalisation for flu-like symptoms at Michigan Public Health and the Grand Rapids Community Health Department between March 21 and March 23, a Covid Flow was put in place to collect all data about the suspected cases, according to a Reuters report.
In a detailed report posted online, the Health Department explained that the reporting system for a wave of suspected cases that hit the state in March didn’t provide the “best indication” of the patient population being treated and therefore “endangered patient privacy.” The Covid Flow report requested more detail from hospitals.
Following the report, all hospitals in Michigan must monitor their patient numbers to ensure they aren’t experiencing a surge, while the Public Health Department said that doctors, nurses and other health workers “can report to the department if they think a wave of patients arriving for suspected swine flu can be related to this wave.”
Before analyzing the data, nurses were told they could report cases “if patient call volume increases by 10 per cent over normal levels, which takes place if at least 3.5 sick patients are seen per hour” according to one HHS official. All Hologic Hospital Trust Hospitals were involved in the analysis.
“In recent weeks, this rate has increased to approximately 7.5 sick patients per hour,” the report stated. In a second version of the analysis, the percentage of patients started at 3.5 sick patients rose to 3.8 sick patients. These reports led the Health Department to deem that the response was needed and they requested that additional hospitals report incidents.
The health department noted that health care workers may also report incidents.
Overall, Hologic Health trusts reported 34 incidents of additional patients per hour over their usual rates, while those with 10-30 additional patients each hour reported 19 patients per hour. Those with less than 10 additional patients reported an additional 3.1 patients per hour. These reports led the Health Department to deem that the response was needed and they requested that additional hospitals report incidents.
We spoke to a representative for Michigan’s Health and Human Services Department about whether these changes would be impacting the patient population in the state.
“We are working with other state agencies and hospitals to ensure that patient safety is a top priority and that proper system systems are in place. We’ve also been in constant communication with the hospitals to make sure that follow-up procedures are in place to monitor the patients they care for,” the representative told us.