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H1N1 Pandemic Preparedness, Social Media, and Lessons Learned

The recent H1N1 Influenza outbreak raised concerns about our ability to handle the current, and future pandemic threats. Our systems for surveillance, reporting, infection control, and antiviral drug distribution showed strain and could potentially be overwhelmed. In the brief time we have to prepare for our next flu season, we must step back and evaluate where improvements need to be made.

Of critical importance during any crisis are the roles and responsibilities of healthcare providers on the front line, not only those in ER's, but also in Primary Care offices and Urgent Care Centers.  As demonstrated during these past few weeks, social media can play a vital role in the dissemination of information (via twitter, blogs and social networks), however, pushing out limited alerts through Twitter is only the first step.

The Associated Press and Washington Post recently identified Veratect's role in using real and virtual intelligence-gathering to send initial alerts of the H1N1 virus to the Emergency Operations Center and Global Disease Detection Center at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By partnering with Ozmosis, James M. Wilson V, M.D., Chief Technical Officer and Chief Scientist, Veratect Corporation, believes "the power of social networking will more efficiently marry situational awareness with the physicians' daily lives and encourage better reporting of disease events that could negatively affect our communities and our country."

By alerting physicians, in real-time, to outbreaks in their region, and enabling them to quickly report potential infections through Ozmosis, we were able to provide physicians with the critical information they need to make decisions at the point of care.  As the the events of H1N1 unfolded, physicians on Ozmosis were able to search alerts state by state,  so they could quickly find and track local outbreaks and discuss treatment options with peers across the country.  Ozmosis Physicians were able to use the real-time alerts to calm concerned patients and prevent further social disruption. "Any doctor will tell you, reassurance is a huge part of medicine and the Ozmosis Health Alerts gave that to my patients when they needed it most," states Robert Saunders, M.D. of Family Medicine of Landsdowne, in Leesburg, VA.

(Updated!) As part of our effort to evaluate and report on lessons learned, Ozmosis provided a brief case study on how physicians utilized Ozmosis during the H1N1 outbreak and an overview of its Public Health Alerts solution at the HIMSS National Capital Area Meeting on Thursday, May 21st in Roslyn, Virginia.

If you are a U.S. Licensed physician, you may join Ozmosis and begin using real-time health alerts. (registration requires verification of U.S. licensure and identity)

You can also learn more about Real-Time Health Alerts on Ozmosis.

Jason Bhan, MD Co-Founder, Ozmosis
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