Big Data Dashboard Tracks COVID-19 Cases and Response in Indiana

April 21, 2020 - Regenstrief Institute has developed a big data dashboard to help the state of Indiana track and respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.

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The dashboard adds to the state’s information by providing data on patients’ course of care through local health systems. This data can give leaders a more comprehensive picture of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on people in Indiana, as well as an opportunity to anticipate emerging hotspots and surges.

For this effort, Regenstrief partnered with the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH), Indiana Family Social Services Administration (FSSA), Indiana Management Performance Hub (MPH), Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE), Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, and Indiana University School of Medicine.

The partnership enables leaders to access data from the majority of Indiana’s health systems and laboratories. With this information, public health officials can identify key patterns and predict how to best respond as COVID-19 continues to spread across the state.

"This data is a key component to helping state leaders make critical decisions at crucial times during this crisis. The expertise and resources of our partners brought this concept to fruition," said Connor Norwood, PhD, chief data officer for FSSA and data leader for the state's COVID-19 response team. "We appreciate the contributions of Regenstrief, IHIE, IU Fairbanks School of Public Health and IU School of Medicine as we work to keep Hoosiers healthy."

The state has leveraged informatics and health IT expertise from Regenstrief Institute, as well as capabilities from IHIE, which manages the Indiana Network for Patient Care, the nation’s largest interorganizational clinical data repository.

Data visualization tools have played a central role in the COVID-19 pandemic. Institutions and states across the country have leveraged these platforms to better inform decision-making and response efforts.

The UC San Francisco School of Medicine Dean’s Office of Population Health and Health Equity recently launched an interactive mapping website that curates publicly available community data, including COVID-19 cases and deaths.

The resource allows users to examine social determinants of health and relevant health outcomes from a local perspective.

“In the wake of COVID pandemic, the population health perspective is more important than ever,” said Courtney Lyles, co-Principal Investigator of the UCSF Population Health Data Initiative and Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

“We hope this public resource will be useful to UCSF researchers and the broader community to explore the role of place on health outcomes.”

The data dashboard from Regenstrief Institute and its partners displays public and private sector data on emergency department visits, inpatient admissions, and laboratory testing. The tool also shows key metrics like a map of patients tested, the total number of patients discharged and hospitalized, and comorbidity rates.

Additionally, the dashboard offers a breakdown of COVID-19 patient demographics across the state, allowing users to examine the impact the virus has had on different genders and racial and ethnic groups.

Researchers expect that the platform will help leaders in Indiana better understand how COVID-19 is spreading across the state.

"These critical data visualizations and tools were developed thanks to the extensive data assets, connectivity, expertise and longstanding collaborations we have in Indiana," said Peter Embí, MD, Regenstrief president and chief executive officer and professor and associate dean for informatics and health services research at IU School of Medicine.

"Collaborative efforts like this across the public and private sectors are especially crucial in times of crisis, and we are proud of the dedication and tireless work of our teams to create and maintain this resource that will help our public health officials make critical data-driven decisions for the well-being of our residents."