Providence pivots digital consumer tools for COVID-19 response

Providence Regional Medical Center (Cindy Shebley, iStock Editorial/Getty Images)

As the healthcare tide changes in efforts to fight COVID-19, Providence has been a leader in modernizing tools and pivoting digital consumer tools. A longtime advocate of the digital front door, Providence found itself dealing with surges of new patients in March as Washington state became the first American epicenter of COVID-19. Just the previous month, in a February interview before the pandemic had taken hold in the U.S., Aaron Martin, chief digital officer, spoke with Healthcare IT News Contributor Benjamin Harris about the critical need for health systems to investment in consumer experience technologies.

“Almost immediately, the health system was able to pivot its existing digital platform and pivot many of its features to meet the unique need of COVID-19 patients. ‘We retooled it and reoriented it to address the coronavirus,’ he said. ‘For instance, we built a chatbot that helps us navigate patients between different modes of care, helps answer questions. We've reoriented and use that platform to help people self-assess whether or not they should seek care for the coronavirus. We launched that in about five days.’”