Automated Discontinuation of Isolation Precautions with the Use of Electronic Health Record Tools

Abstract

Background: At a comprehensive cancer center, hundreds of patients are screened daily for infections requiring the implementation of isolation precautions. Discontinuation of precautions is determined by negative testing, resolution of infection, or other criteria. Determining appropriate discontinuation of isolation precautions is labor intensive for Infection Preventionists (IPs). An unintended consequence of manual discontinuation is that numerous patients remain on isolation indefinitely. This was amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic when thousands of patients were placed on isolation precautions. Using electronic health record (EHR) tools, opportunities for process improvements were developed. Our goal was to establish an automated method to resolve isolation precautions. We aimed to decrease the number of manually resolved precautions by 25% each fiscal year (FY), compared to our baseline of activity in FY 2019 (FY19). Our secondary aim was to automate adding and resolving precautions when testing is initiated for suspected transmissible conditions (rule-out testing features).