Optimization of Data Collection during Public Health Emergencies—Experience with APACHE II Score

Abstract Background Capturing accurate clinical data in real time is a challenge during public health emergencies. The United States Critical Illness and Injury Trials Group-Program for Emergency Preparedness is committed to improving these preparedness efforts. Objectives We aimed to create an electronic Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II data collection instrument that (1) leverages Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) automated calculations and logic, (2) may be shared across sites, (3) overcomes limitations in existing APACHE II instruments in the REDCap library, and (4) suggests changes to be made to data collection instruments during emergencies. Methods The APACHE II instrument was implemented using REDCap. Data fields were divided into four sections: age, Acute Physiology, Glasgow Coma Scale, and chronic health status. Usability testing was followed by two preliminary evaluations: a comparison to existing APACHE II instruments and a simulated emergency exercise. Results The final instrument consisted of 34 data fields. It produced an accurate APACHE II score and was faster to complete than two previous implementations (average of 97.5 seconds vs. 323.5 and 183.5 seconds). During the simulated emergency exercise, the instrument was used at 10 sites to create 34 patient records; median time to complete the instrument was 150.5 seconds. Conclusion This project demonstrated feasibility of improving the accuracy and efficiency of a data collection instrument. Future efforts should focus on expanding these methods to develop other scoring tools for use during emergencies and additional testing to ensure it is ready for use during a real emergency.