During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare facilities often faced chaotic conditions. Now, with the benefit of experience and data analytics, HCOs can be better prepared.
Data analytics can ready emergency departments, helping prevent the chaos seen during COVID-19’s early days.
Pandemics — from the Greek “pandēmos,” meaning all people — have been a constant presence throughout human history. From the bubonic plague during the Middle Ages to countless influenza and coronavirus pandemics, the primary change over time has been the speed at which these diseases spread. While the bubonic plague, caused by Yersinia pestis, spread at an estimated “mile a day,” the Spanish Flu of 1918 circled the globe within a few months, SARS took only weeks, and COVID-19 managed to reach almost every corner of the world in mere days. With globalization and rapid travel, the next pandemic will spread even faster. If the trend holds, healthcare systems must take a proactive approach to pandemic readiness.
Beyond mortality and morbidity, the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated significant vulnerabilities in the United States’ healthcare system, especially within emergency departments (EDs).
Table of Contents
Pandemic Challenges: Lessons from COVID-19
Initially, ED visits declined at the start of the pandemic, but they quickly surged to unprecedented levels, setting new records for boarding rates and patient throughput delays during every influenza-like illness (ILI) season. Not surprisingly, recent data shows that such boarding not only worsens patient outcomes but also increases the cost of care borne by healthcare systems.
Beyond the obvious patient surges from COVID-19 and initial resource shortages, another crucial aspect of the early phase of the pandemic was operational inefficiency. Ever-changing patient volumes, ebbing and flowing with community spread levels, magnified underlying problems in operations.
Overwhelmed facilities urgently hired contract staff at exorbitant rates, only to cancel contracts within weeks. Previous norms of ED volumes no longer applied, increasing staff burnout and leading to financial strain for healthcare facilities. The situation aggravated the ED physician shortage, as reflected by unfilled emergency medicine residency positions. While 2024 saw improvement, with unfilled positions dropping from 554 to 135, the issue persists. The 2024 match achieved a 95.5% fill rate, with increased International Medical Graduate participation. However, the dwindling number of rural emergency physicians is exacerbating the ’emergency physician desert’ problem nationwide.
With the right data and analytics tools, many of these issues could have been mitigated.
How Data Analytics Can Strengthen Pandemic Readiness
Instead of reacting to the next crisis as it unfolds, EDs must leverage data analytics to proactively manage emergency surges. High-quality, site-specific data can help EDs:
1: Optimize Surge Planning with High-Quality Historical Data
COVID-19 demonstrated the limitations of traditional hospital surge plans. Many were built on static assumptions rather than real-world data.
d2i’s Emergency Medicine Performance Analytics provides hospitals with high-resolution data to refine surge models, enabling more accurate patient flow forecasts. With the ability to analyze past patient influx trends, d2i helps hospitals predict and prepare for future spikes in emergency cases.
How this helps EDs prepare:
- Use historical data to model past ILI surges and anticipate seasonal fluctuations.
- Identify trends in low-acuity patient volumes that can be diverted to virtual care.
- Improve staffing decisions by forecasting peak hours based on previous surges.
2: Reduce ED Boarding & Improve Throughput
ED boarding amplifies mortality risk and drives up costs. With d2i’s operational insights, hospitals can:
- Identify bottlenecks in the admission process to streamline patient flow.
- Optimize bed availability tracking to ensure patients are transferred efficiently.
- Reduce left without being seen (LWBS) rates by improving throughput strategies.
3: Improve ICU Resource Allocation & Staffing
One of the biggest failures during COVID-19 was the misalignment of available resources with actual patient needs.
d2i’s analytics allow ED leaders to:
- Monitor ICU capacity trends and make informed decisions concerning when additional staffing will be necessary.
- Identify patient acuity patterns to ensure critical resources are allocated efficiently.
- Reduce reliance on costly contract labor by anticipating staffing needs before surges occur.
4: Implement Teletriage and Quarantine Strategies
During a pandemic, many individuals may be fearful of visiting the ED, even if they require care. Using telehealth platforms allows healthcare providers to assess patients remotely, provide guidance, and determine if an in-person visit is necessary. This can reduce unnecessary ED visits and alleviate pressure on already strained resources. Furthermore, effective quarantine protocols are essential to prevent the spread of infectious diseases within the ED. Data analytics can help identify patients suspected of having a contagious illness, enabling rapid isolation and preventing cross-contamination.
5: Leverage Geographic Rippling Effects
COVID-19 surges often exhibited a “ripple effect” across geographic areas. Knowing that a surge in one region often foreshadowed a similar surge in a neighboring region a few weeks later allowed for some level of prediction. For example, if hospitals in one area saw a surge, hospitals in nearby areas could anticipate a similar event and prepare accordingly. Data analytics can identify these patterns and provide valuable lead time for resource allocation, staffing adjustments, and other preparedness measures.
Pandemic Preparedness Requires Actionable Data
If COVID-19 taught us anything, it’s that healthcare systems can no longer afford to rely on outdated pandemic response strategies. The next public health crisis will demand smarter, faster, and more data-driven decision-making. To prepare, hospitals must invest in high-quality, actionable data that allows for better-informed decision-making. They must also implement data-backed surge planning to minimize ED boarding and staffing shortages and utilize historical insights to optimize resource distribution and patient throughput.
With d2i’s Emergency Medicine Performance Analytics, EDs gain the insights they need to anticipate, plan, and respond to crises more effectively.
Rather than scrambling to adjust after the next pandemic begins, contact d2i to see how data-driven solutions can strengthen your emergency preparedness strategy.