By Dr. David Gregg, chief medical officer at StayWell

We continue to receive new information and updates on 2019-nCoV—commonly known as Coronavirus—as public health officials work to determine the exact source of the virus and how it is spreading.

The World Health Organization has declared the Coronavirus outbreak an international public health emergency and several countries have made decisions to close borders, cancel flights, and screen arriving passengers at airports in order to prevent the virus from expanding.

Communicating with patients is especially important during an emerging health crisis such as Coronavirus, given the fluidity of the situation and that information is changing daily. Health care providers should proactively share informative content on symptoms, causes, diagnoses, treatments, risks, and prevention tips with their patients and communities. This should continue on an ongoing basis as needed.

But creating effective communications that are informative, engaging, and accurate is no easy task. Many health care organizations lack the resources or staff that is necessary to accomplish this. Scrambling to develop content in reaction to these emerging health concerns can result in poor quality, or even worse, medical errors. Rigorous processes are needed to develop high-quality content and provide expedited responses to critical health issues.

When producing content or other communications, a successful process includes having:

• Clinicians draft the initial content or communications piece
• Medical writers review drafts to ensure health literacy standards are met
• Medical illustrators create supporting imagery
• Messaging sent for external review and validation
• An expedited development time goal (e.g., publish content within 5 days of a major health crisis)

However, developing the content itself is not enough. Health care providers need to have the ability to update content on the fly and deliver it seamlessly, so patients are well informed on complicated issues. Using Krames On FHIR®, providers can deliver award-winning patient education at the point of care where it has the best chance to improve patient comprehension and outcomes.

Krames On FHIR integrates into EHRs and directly into clinicians’ workflows, allowing them to access the most up to date content (including in digital, video, and print formats). Having automatic updates means less involvement from IT and no delays in providing the crucial information patients are looking for during a health crisis.

Leading health care organizations realize patient education’s impact not only on patients but also clinicians. By leveraging FHIR technology, your organization can overcome the challenge of being reactive and become more proactive in communicating effectively throughout a health crisis or emergency.

This article was originally posted on https://www.staywell.com/coronavirus

Copyright © 2020 The StayWell Company, LLC. except where otherwise noted.