U.S. COVID-19 Local Response System

Owned by Julia Fuller (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Apr 17, 2024 by Gillian Javetski
4 min read
Click here to view a demo of the US COVID-19 Local Response System
Click here to view a demo of the US COVID-19 Local Response System

 

Dimagi is a software social enterprise based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is one of the world’s largest providers of technology for frontline health workers. Our open source technology platform, CommCare, is the world’s most widely-used mobile data collection and service delivery platform. CommCare was designed as an ‘offline first’ mobile application and is optimized for offline use cases at scale.

To support local COVID-19 response efforts, Dimagi has developed an open source COVID-19 digital system that supports persons under investigation (PUI) protocols, case surveillance, and contact tracing. The system uses decision making support and automated alerts to help public health personnel efficiently screen suspected COVID-19 cases and follow up with any contacts who may have been exposed to the virus.

  • COVID-19 Case Screening: The system enables users to screen suspected COVID-19 cases for exposure and risk factors. Once their lab results are available, the system kicks off automatic assessment, triaging, and communication protocols and helps public health officials isolate cases that need additional support or services. Individuals with confirmed COVID-19 receive emails with information on the virus and instructions to prevent transmission. 

  • COVID-19 Contact Tracing: Once lab-confirmed cases are identified, the system users input information about these cases’ contacts. These contacts then receive daily SMS text messages checking in on their health and symptoms throughout the 14-day monitoring period. They can self-report symptoms via text, immediately alerting public health officials that follow up or testing may be required. This system does not collect information about contacts' GPS locations.

 

System Features and Demo

System Features and Demo

This system is comprised of two parts:

  1. A web or mobile portal for approved healthcare administrators and members of the COVID-19 response teams

  2. SMS for registered cases and contacts to communicate with healthcare officials

Features of the system include:

  • Customizable logic and algorithms to support screening & triaging workflows.

  • Configurable case lists designed to help users quickly identify priority patients.

  • Flexible user permissions applied to enable or restrict access to patient data.

  • Automated email notifications to guide your team and alert staff when follow up action is required.

  • Support for patient self-reporting of symptoms via multilingual SMS.

  • Customizable web reports, data exports and a built-in integration with Power Bi and Tableau for analytics. 

 

Documentation

System Overview

Review our System Overview folder for:

This folder also contains our logos, screenshots of the system, and a list of our press features.

 

About Our Work in the United States

Dimagi is partnering with state and local governments across the United States. One of our projects, with the San Francisco Department of Public Health in California, University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), and the CDC recently deployed a variation of the US COVID-19 Local Response System. The system was rapidly developed using CommCare, allowing Department of Public Health officials and UCSF public health officials, students, and librarians to easily track both COVID-19 cases and contacts over time.

You can review a case study of this work here.

 

Deploying the System

Dimagi staff are available to help partners customize and implement existing templates applications, as well as other CommCare or related technologies. CommCare software can be designed, developed and deployed by non-developers through an easy-to-use interface. Dimagi has the ability in the short-term to provide in-kind implementation support for partners who do not have funds available to support deployment of this system as we seek additional funding to meet the  growing demand.

If you would like more information on how to deploy the system, please contact info@dimagi.com and our team will get in touch shortly. Please note that we are currently handling a high number of requests from several US counties, but are doing our best to support as many counties as we can.