NYC Health + Hospitals Launches At-Home COVID-19 Monitoring Program

NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest public health care system in the U.S., has launched an at-home COVID-19 text message-based symptom monitoring platform for discharged emergency department (ED) patients.

According to health system officials, patients who are discharged from the ED with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 who do not require admission to the hospital can now self-enroll to receive secure text messages every 12 to 24 hours at home to assess their symptoms as a part of this program. If a person reports escalating symptoms, they will receive a follow-up phone call by a care team member and, if necessary, be referred into the hospital for clinical care.

The text message-based platform is available to patients in English and Spanish, with plans to make it accessible in the 14 most common languages represented by the system’s patient population, according to officials.

“The Stay-At-Home Symptom Monitoring Program will help the public health care system continue to free up capacity within its facilities to care for patients who are most severely affected by COVID-19, while supervising and triaging the health of at-risk patients remotely,” health system leaders say.

As of April 14, New York City has confirmed more than 6,500 COVID-19-related deaths with nearly 30,000 hospitalizations. These numbers represent by far the most hospitalizations and deaths of any U.S. city.

As such, the city’s public healthcare system continues to operate a COVID-19 hotline for concerned New Yorkers with symptoms not severe enough to require a trip to the ED. More than 50,000 connections have been made through the COVID-19 hotline, with approximately 90 percent of callers being advised to stay at home and monitor their mild symptoms instead of going to the hospital.

NYC Health + Hospitals serves more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. The system’s network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals.

Earlier this month, the health system announced they would be offering free COVID-19 testing to all employees regardless of symptoms or where they work.