AUCKLAND, New Zealand, March 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Orion Health has developed the first comprehensive pandemic outbreak monitoring platform to alleviate demand on health systems and reduce the risk of further spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Orion Health software that supports this will be offered at no cost to existing and future customers.

Core functionality of the solution includes the ability to remotely monitor and engage patients in their homes, facilitating communication between quarantined people and the healthcare service, as well as maintaining visibility of those recently discharged. The intention is to alleviate spikes in demand on health systems, reducing the risk of further spread of the virus and flattening the epidemiological curve.

Over time the solution will increasingly use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to allow providers to identify patients at risk of deterioration and optimise their care. This will allow resources to be allocated to those most in need.

A globally available website, https://www.covidrisk.com/, will be launched in the next 48 hours to support the different clinical protocols that have been produced by countries and regions to support the unique aspects of their local health systems and the current progression of COVID-19 within their jurisdiction. This site provides a regionally configurable online symptom checker with a background calculation of patient risk based on a number of factors.

From this website the public will also be able to connect into remote patient monitoring functionality in regions where this is available.

Another aspect of the solution is the ability to remotely monitor, at home, health workers who have had exposure to the virus or fallen ill. This functionality can also be used to monitor patients who may have been discharged early in order to free up hospital capacity.

Orion Health CEO Ian McCrae says this unique, comprehensive solution is specifically targeted at reducing the inevitable burden COVID-19 will place on an already stretched health service.

"The software will be offered at no cost to existing and future Orion Health customers around the world for this crisis, and we will also work with non-Orion Health customers to help in the best way we can.

"Providing a widely available assessment tool for COVID-19 will help to reassure the public on the real risk associated with this virus and ease the burden on health systems globally. Individuals will be able to track and monitor their symptoms in their own home and escalate to a health professional only if required and at the appropriate time."

As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases grow globally, especially in those countries currently in the community outbreak phase of the disease, there will be a need for more people to receive support at home.

SOURCE Orion Health