Preparing for the Next Pandemic: Designing Resilient Information-Sharing Systems in Acute Care - 06/08/25

Doi : 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2025.06.615

Jaskaran (Karan) Bains, MD, MBA ^a,^⁎ , Nicholas Stark, MD, MBA ^a, Jaskirat Dhanoa, MD ^a, Tuna Hayirli, MD, PhD ^b, Mai Vu, BS ^a, Michaela Kerrissey, PhD, MS ^c, Hemal Kanzaria, MD, MSc ^a, Christopher Peabody, MD, MPH ^a
^a Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA
^b Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
^c Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA

^∗Corresponding Author.

Sous presse. Épreuves corrigées par l'auteur. Disponible en ligne depuis le Wednesday 06 August 2025

Abstract

Study objectives

We describe a human-centered design process of creating a centralized digital information hub for information sharing in the emergency department (ED), called E∗Drive. We assessed its usage during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) and monkeypox (Mpox) pandemics and discuss how to replicate a similar resource.

Methods

We recruited an interdisciplinary team of 6 clinicians and designers to build this digital tool with the guiding principles of reliability, agility, and accessibility. We compared average unique page views to our ED’s previous clinical guideline system and tracked views alongside COVID-19 and Mpox case counts to assess E∗Drive usage during both pandemics.

Results

Our process simplified complex clinical guidelines into single-page, color-coded workflows that could be updated without specialized technical knowledge. After initial launch during the COVID-19 pandemic, E∗Drive (edrive.ucsf.edu) reached more than 61 unique daily users by February 2023. This infrastructure and process enabled proactive dissemination of Mpox resources well before case rates rose. Web traffic for our Mpox guidelines rose as San Francisco became the United States epicenter of Mpox, peaking at 126 unique daily views in a department staffed by 25 to 30 clinicians per day.

Conclusion

By instituting a clear, replicable process for information dissemination and investing in human-centered design during the COVID-19 pandemic, we achieved clinician trust and adoption of a digital information hub. This enabled a more proactive response to the next infectious disease outbreak (Mpox). By using a similar process with off-the-shelf content creation tools, E∗Drive can be adapted to many different ED settings to improve information dissemination without specialized technological expertise.

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Keywords : Innovation, Guidelines, Pandemic, COVID, Mpox

Plan

Introduction

Background

Importance

Goals of This Investigation

Methods

Study Setting and Resource Design

Measures and Analysis

Results

Use During COVID-19 Pandemic

Use During MPox Pandemic

Discussion

	Please see page XX for the Editor’s Capsule Summary of this article.
	Supervising editor: David L. Schriger, MD, MPH. Specific detailed information about possible conflict of interest for individual editors is available at editors.
	Author contributions: All authors were involved in conceptualization, review, and editing of the paper. Primary authorship of the paper was carried out by JB. Study supervision was primarily carried out by CP. JB takes responsibility for the paper as a whole.
	Data sharing statement: The COVID-19 and Mpox datasets used in this research report are publicly available and cited above. Google Analytics data are available upon request by contacting Dr. Bains at email jaskaran.bains@ucsf.edu. Google Analytics data from 2020 is archived and no longer available online. As of article publication, Google Analytics data from 2022 is available.
	All authors attest to meeting the four ICMJE.org authorship criteria: (1) Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND (2) Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND (3) Final approval of the version to be published; AND (4) Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
	Fundingandsupport: By Annals’ policy, all authors are required to disclose any and all commercial, financial, and other relationships in any way related to the subject of this article as per ICMJE conflict of interest guidelines (see www.icmje.org/). The authors report no such relationships. This study did not receive any funding.