Quality and Safety in the Literature: May 2022

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. No commercial reuse. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF AN AUTOMATED TEXT MESSAGING SERVICE FOR MONITORING COVID-19 AT HOME Ann Intern Med, 16 November 2021 As cases of SARSCoV2 infection (COVID19) have risen dramatically over the course of the pandemic, global interest in utilisation of telemedicine services has increased. 2 In an effort to avoid exposure to infected persons in healthcare settings, the total number of virtual health encounters has risen sharply in both primary care and subspecialty clinics. 4 Even prior to the onset of the pandemic, telemedicine services were used in a myriad of specialties, ranging from cardiothoracic surgery to psychiatry to palliative care as a means of monitoring symptoms and collecting patient data to detect and address early patient deterioration and prevent excess morbidity and mortality. Early in the pandemic, clinicians and researchers quickly noted the opportunities for telemedicine to prevent such morbidity and mortality specifically related to COVID19. 9 An application called COVID Watch, developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Health System (Penn Medicine), is a home monitoring programme for outpatients diagnosed with COVID19. COVID Watch sends twicedaily automated text messages to patients, inquiring about worsening symptoms and increased shortness of breath. In the event of worsening shortness of breath, the patient is contacted by a clinician via telephone within 1 hour for further evaluation and consideration of emergency department (ED) escalation. To understand the effectiveness of the COVID Watch programme, Delgado and colleagues performed a retrospective cohort study, analysing a population of patients within Penn Medicine. Included patients were adults aged 18 years or older who tested positive for COVID19 in the outpatient setting between 23 March and 30 November 2020. Excluded were people enrolled in home health or hospice services, those residing at longterm care facilities, those with active ‘do not resuscitate’ orders and those tested for COVID19 in areas where COVID Healthcare quality and safety span multiple topics across the spectrum of academic and clinical disciplines. Keeping abreast of the rapidly growing body of work can be challenging. In this series, we provide succinct summaries of selected relevant studies published in the last several months. Some articles will focus on a particular theme, whereas others will highlight unique publications from highimpact medical journals.