Dallas Morning News: Big data, big impact: How Dallas researchers and providers are targeting vaccines to fight COVID

Dallas Morning News:

Big data, big impact: How Dallas researchers and providers are targeting vaccines to fight COVID

One census block northeast of downtown had over 4,100 unvaxxed residents. In a smaller block in the southern edge of Dallas County, 94% were unvaccinated.

Big data is making a big difference in the fight against COVID-19 in Dallas, and the potential promise goes well beyond the pandemic.

Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation, a nonprofit research and data analytics company, is helping providers target their outreach efforts to the most vulnerable residents. PCCI tracks real-time data on vaccinations and COVID-19 cases, and overlays it against underlying health conditions and socioeconomic factors.

That creates “a vulnerability index” and other tools that allow officials to assess which areas face the greatest risks — not just at the ZIP code level but in areas as small as census blocks…

– Click the link below to read the full story –

Dallas Morning News_Big data, big impact_ How Dallas researchers and providers are targeting vaccines to fight COVID

DCEO Healthcare: Info Envy: Dallas County’s Public Health Data Is Among the Best in the Country

One of Dallas’ top media outlets, D CEO Healthcare, ran a story on the reaction to PCCI, IHI and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center publishing an article in the New England Journal of Medicine on PCCI’s herd immunity program for Dallas County:

“Dallas County is home to some of the best COVID-19 data in the country. So when Steve Miff met with experts from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to publish his recent paper in the New England Journal of Medicine about herd immunity, he found that his out-of-town colleagues were jealous of the depth and breadth of information.” 

Go here to read the full article: https://www.dmagazine.com/healthcare-business/2021/09/info-envy-dallas-countys-public-health-data-is-among-the-best-in-the-country/

MSN News: DFW hospital beds filling up with COVID-19 patients; Delta making it harder to reach herd immunity

MSN News:
Across the state, more than 23,000 new positive COVID-19 cases were reported. And the Delta variant, which is responsible for most of the new cases, is making it harder to reach herd immunity.

The problem is that the Delta variant has put the state further back from herd immunity, but also moved the goal line further out.

Steve Miff is the CEO of Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation and says we are around 76% right now, but the state, with Delta, needs to get in the mid 90s to achieve herd immunity.

Click the following link to read the full story:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dfw-hospital-beds-filling-up-with-covid-19-patients-delta-making-it-harder-to-reach-herd-immunity/ar-AAOt46k

DCEO Healthcare: How Today’s COVID Data Informs Tomorrow’s Public Health Measures

In a story in the DCEO Healthcare, PCCI research says Dallas County will need 95 percent immunity, explains how several factors are extending vulnerability to the virus, and teaching us about the next one.

The battle against the COVID-19 virus steals the headlines, but another war is being waged under the surface. Data analytics professionals and public health officials are constantly fighting to stay ahead of the massive amounts of data generated by the pandemic. In Dallas, PCCI leads that effort and develops lessons for future pandemics.

Click this link to read the full story:

https://www.dmagazine.com/healthcare-business/2021/09/how-todays-covid-data-informs-tomorrows-public-health-measures/

Dallas Morning News: PCCI reports Upwards of 95% of Dallas County residents need protection against COVID-19 to reach herd immunity

According to a report in the Dallas Morning news, PCCI data indicates that upwards of 95% of Dallas County residents need protection against COVID-19 to reach herd immunity. Herd immunity refers to the condition in which a population is indirectly protected from infection because enough people are vaccinated or have natural immunity to a disease.

Click this link to read the full story:

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2021/09/17/upwards-of-90-of-dallas-county-residents-need-protection-against-covid-19-to-reach-herd-immunity/?outputType=amp

 

 

 

Parkland and PCCI’s suicide screening program show who is most at-risk in Dallas County

By Jacqueline Naeem, MD, PCCI’s Senior Medical Director

By Kimberly Roaten, PhD, CRC, Parkland Health & Hospital System’s Director of Quality for Safety, Education, and Implementation

The month of September is designated as Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month, offering an opportunity to bring awareness and support to mental health organizations and individuals in Dallas who are helping those in need. An initiative led by Parkland Health & Hospital System (PHHS) and Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI) reveals important information about suicide risk among Dallas residents.

While national and international efforts to prevent suicide are ongoing, the problem continues to grow. Over the last decade, healthcare systems have seen a rise in the number of individuals with psychiatric needs and suicide risk. As outlined by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), suicide and suicide attempts continue to plague the healthcare sector:

  • Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US
  • On average there are 130 suicides per day
  • In the US there were an estimated 1.38M suicide attempts in a single year

Many individuals who die by suicide have had contact with a healthcare provider in the weeks and months prior to death, but often this contact is with primary care or emergency medicine providers who may not identify the risk. With the aim of stemming this problem, PHHS implemented a proactive suicide risk identification and prevention program in 2015 which includes screening all patients ages 10 and older for suicide risk regardless of their presenting problems. Approximately 40,000 screenings are completed per month and over 4 million screenings overall. The Universal Suicide Screening Program at PHHS is an example of how meet and exceed The Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal 15.01.01, targeting suicide risk and has yielded important data about the prevalence of risk in healthcare settings.

Through collaboration with Parkland Clinical Leadership, PCCI has applied data analytics to understand insights from Suicide Screening Program data, which can be used to identify opportunities to improve the current care pathway. Identification of previously undetected suicide risk leads to timely assessment by a health care provider and connection to appropriate services and resources.

Importantly, analysis of data from the program revealed that 2.3% of individuals who have an encounter for a non-psychiatric complaint endorse suicide risk factors (2,735 pediatric patients and 65,000 adults), underscoring the importance of proactive screening and assessment in all patient populations. Patients who are at risk are assessed, provided with brief evidence-based interventions, and then referred for appropriate ongoing care.

Parkland and PCCI are identifying important ways to prevent suicide and self-directed, but everyone can work together to prevent suicide. Knowing the warning signs and how to find help are two important steps in addressing this critical issue. National Suicide Prevention Month is a wonderful way to raise awareness and improve advocacy. If you are someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or suffering and in need of support, there are excellent resources in North Texas including AFSP’s North Texas Chapter. Our collective efforts can help those at risk.

(Are you in Crisis? Call 800-273-8255 or text HOME to 741741.)

 

PCCI Publishing: New England Journal of Medicine – Examining PCCI’s approach to determining COVID-19 herd immunity in Dallas County

The New England Journal of Medicine/Catalyst published an article authored by members of PCCI, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the  Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center that examines PCCI’s approach to determining COVID-19 herd immunity in Dallas County.

The article, “Rethinking Herd Immunity: Managing the Covid-19 Pandemic in a Dynamic Biological and Behavioral Environment,” was published under its “Innovations Care Delivery” section. The authors of the article share how a detailed understanding of local pandemic conditions is necessary to create focused, tailored responses. While achieving high levels of vaccination is important, exclusive focus on national vaccine targets de-emphasizes the complexities of Covid-19 population immunity. Herd immunity is dynamic and depends on the transmissibility of each new Covid-19 strain, the effectiveness of previous immunity due to previous infection and vaccination against these strains, and human behavior in local communities.

The authors developed a potential framework for enumerating and estimating community-wide immunity to Covid-19 with use of data reportable to local county public health authorities. Using data from Dallas County, Texas, they describe the interplay of vaccines and infection in terms of Covid-19 population immunity, the effect of variants on the ever-changing threshold for herd immunity, and how better access, algorithms, and use of real-time local immunity data could lead to more effective local population protection.

To view the article click here:

https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.21.0288

Or to view it as a PDF, click here.

https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/CAT.21.0288

 

PCCI Published: Building a Vulnerability Index of Biological and Socioeconomic Risk Factors to Combat COVID-19 Spread

In mid-2021, PCCI experts, along with co-authors from William & Mary published an article in the DESRIST 2021: The Next Wave of Sociotechnical Design pp 22-33, outlining how PCCI developed a COVID-19 vulnerability index that was used by Dallas-area health officials to identify populations in Dallas most at-risk.

DESRIST 2021: The Next Wave of Sociotechnical Design pp 22-33

ABSTRACT:
In early 2020, many community leaders faced high uncertainty regarding their local communities’ health and safety, which impacts their response to the pandemic, public health messaging, and other factors in guiding their communities on how to remain healthy. Making decisions regarding resources was particularly difficult in Dallas, Texas, USA where local communities face stark differences in Non Medical Drivers of Health, such as availability of fresh foods and environmental pollution. We use an action design research approach to develop an index to assess vulnerability, which incorporates both long-term COVID-19 community risk measures and ongoing dynamic measures of the pandemic. Community and public health officials utilize the index in making critical policy and strategic decisions while guiding their communities during COVID-19 and in future crises.

AUTHORS
Thomas Roderick, PCCI, Yolande Pengetnze, PCCI, Steve Miff, PCCI, Monica Chiarini Tremblay, College of William and Mary, Rajiv Kohli, College of William and Mary

D Magazine: Dallasites Are Now Six Times More Likely to Get COVID-19

The average Dallas resident is now 600 percent more likely to catch COVID-19 than they were in early June, according the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation’s COVID-19 Vulnerability Index. Low vaccination rates and rising cases, primarily driven by the delta variant, have created the aggregate increase in vulnerability between the end of June and the end of July.

READ MORE HERE:
https://www.dmagazine.com/healthcare-business/2021/08/dallasites-are-now-six-times-more-likely-to-get-covid-19/