Massive recruiting efforts are underway nationwide as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to strain healthcare like never before.
Across the country, state governments are taking unprecedented action to engage healthcare professionals and volunteers to accommodate rapidly growing numbers of patients and to prepare for the expected influx of coronavirus cases in weeks ahead.
Many states are using Juvare CORES RMS Responder Management System and CORES HAN Health Alert Network to communicate information, guidance, and procedures with medical staff and volunteers. They are also using CORES RMS to identify volunteers to staff call centers and other public health related missions related to COVID-19.
On March 30, the state of California announced a major initiative to increase its healthcare workforce in an effort to staff more than 50,000 hospital beds added to accommodate the expected influx of COVID-19 cases. The executive order by California Gov. Gavin Newsome called for “medical doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, behavioral health scientists, pharmacists, EMTs, medical and administrative assistants, certified nursing assistants” to register at the state’s California Health Corps website.
“California’s health care workers are the heroes of this moment, serving on the front lines in the fight against this disease. To treat the rising number of patients with COVID-19, our state needs more workers in the health care field to join the fight. If you have a background in health care, we need your help. Sign up at healthcorps.ca.gov,” Governor Newsom said in a press release.
Within 24 hours of the announcement, more than 25,000 volunteers registered on the site, which is operating on Juvare’s CORES RMS platform.
CORES RMS is a volunteer coordination program that allows clients to enlist, register, and deploy volunteers. It allows manual or automated credentialing of licensed volunteers and background checks on volunteers. CORES RMS enables agencies to organize volunteers in compliance with the Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP) guidelines. They can also use the program to streamline staffing of PODS and shelters, to staff call centers, coordinate and track volunteer training, and respond to public health needs. CORES RMS is also used by state agencies for notifications of important events and updates.
The state of Washington is also using CORES RMS to notify volunteers of COVID-19 response activities; notify nursing volunteers of the need to staff skilled nursing and rehabilitation homes; and request medical providers to staff call centers to screen and reply to coronavirus-related calls. The state is also using CORES RMS for volunteer management, credentialing for over 80 medical professions, and verifying medical professionals with out-of-state boards. CORES RMS also allows the department to create reports including lists of all new volunteers registered since the COVID-19 outbreak, individuals seeking to volunteer, counts by occupation, and counts by Emergency Credential Level (ECL), including nurses and physicians.
Many states are also using Juvare’s CORES HAN (Health Alert Network) to share information from the CDC and communicate information to areas with people being tested for COVID-19. CORES HAN is also being used to communicate information related to local, state, and federal level documents, procedures, meetings, and informational recordings to qualified stakeholders, and to send Public Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) data and communications.
CORES HAN is a mass notification program with advanced 2-way notification capability to send messages via phone, SMS, fax, and email. CORES HAN is primarily used by state department of health and public health agencies to share health information and process related notifications throughout the state – including state and local public health guidelines and notifications, as well as CDC Health Alert Network notifications.
For example, the governor of Illinois recently requested that every clinician in the state to register in the state’s Rapid Electronic Notification Network, which operates on the CORES HAN platform (branded in Illinois as SIREN). The state called on all licensed healthcare providers to register for Illinois Helps, including all physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, physician assistants, medics, LPNs, CNAs, podiatrists, and dentists.
When President Trump recently invoked the Stafford Act to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to providing FEMA with billions of dollars for disaster relief, it also removed some of the limits on length of stay for patients, and on the number of beds at certain hospitals, allowing them to more quickly establish temporary facilities as needed and to bypass limits on facility use to add emergency capacity.
However, even if there are more beds available, there is still a need for staff and equipment to serve patients in those new beds. Fortunately, the measure also removed some of the usual federal requirements that could delay or hinder healthcare service – including federal license requirements that limit where healthcare professionals can work. Loosening or removing these restrictions has allowed federal, state, and local agencies to significantly expand the number of healthcare professionals and volunteers who can help as the number of cases grows.
In addition to Juvare’s CORES solutions, hospitals and healthcare facilities are also using Juvare’s EMResource, EMTrack, and EMSupply solutions as they continue to track and monitor essential medical supplies like personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators, as the inventory of those items is rapidly depleted.
Juvare is proud to support agencies across the country with situational awareness, preparedness measures, and response activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To learn more about the CORES RMS and CORES HAN solutions, as well as other Juvare technology solutions such as WebEOC – and how they can support the pandemic readiness and response – contact us today.
