94 - Track It, Trace IT, Stop It. Mskcc's COVID-19 Contact Tracing Initiative

Description: Health care workers are one of the most vulnerable group during the COVID-19 pandemic and account for the highest infection rate. Studies show, other health care employees as their main source of infection. Contact tracing is a key component to containing communicable diseases by identifying, assessing, and managing people who have been exposed to COVID-19 positive individuals.
The core team consisted of multiple disciplines, from various departments, trained to provide social and medical support. Care providers included nurses, physicians, advanced practice nurses, and clinical technicians. Departments providing support services were, nursing, IT, human resources, laboratory, infection control, and employee health.
We leveraged the existing infra-structure for resource and time efficiency by staffing the core team with, employees from departments with decreased work-load, those requiring work accommodations, had relevant expertise, and willing to work from home. The COVID-Response Program provided a training curriculum for each team member. The Contact Tracing team’s critical features emphasized simplicity, high precision, integrability, confidentiality, and expediency, while considering financial, logistical, operational and epidemiologic systems.
Employees were required to complete a daily health check tool before reporting to work, to assess their risk level for COVID-19 and direct those with symptoms to stay home and schedule testing. Salesforce was introduced as a central electronic data base for documentation and case management. Multiple testing locations were set up, and algorithms were created for testing criteria. Online communication surveys were developed to report exposures, eliminate in person contact. An online resource center was created on the institutions’ website for education and informational purposes.
The nursing implications for this program are meant to provide clinical support and education for employees and patients to reduce the spread of COVID-19, and maintain the healthcare system’s capacity to provide safe, effective, ongoing care. Pre-surgical testing of patients for COVID-19, is done to reduce operating room staff exposure during induction and aerosolized procedures. Quarantine of high risked exposed employees prevents/reduces patient exposures. Essential qualities of an effective contact tracer are, confidentiality, basic crisis counseling, non-judgement, cultural and interpersonal sensitivity during interviews, trustworthiness, and resourcefulness.
MSKCC’s Contact Tracing initiative is a framework for efficient, sustainable and scalable program for COVID-19, which has been successfully implemented in a multi-site, large health care facility. We continue to enhance, optimize and evaluate this program.