Baylor Scott & White has launched new digital care options for children diagnosed with COVID-19. The healthcare system expanded technologies through their online health app to allow for digital monitoring of children. The MyBSWHealth app was created to help eliminate the need for lower-risk pediatric patients to attend hospitals in-person and further risk spread of the virus.
Despite often showing milder symptoms, research shows that children diagnosed with COVID-19 have a greater chance of spreading the virus than adults. According to a study by JAMA Pediatrics, children five years and younger have a 10 to 100 times greater amount of SARS-CoV-2 in their upper respiratory system. Regardless of the symptoms displayed, this large concentration causes young children to disperse virus-laden droplets into the air, spreading the virus much faster than adults.
Baylor Scott & White first implemented digital monitoring for adults in May but later decided there was a need for pediatric options due to the many uncertainties of COVID-19.
“In the face of a pandemic, with many ambiguities surrounding nearly every aspect of life these days, Baylor Scott & White has expanded digital at-home care for patients affected by COVID-19 to offer greater support to families—both pediatric patients and their parents,” said Baylor Scott & White CMO Tiffany Berry via release. “With this expansion, we seek to give our patient families the tools they need to feel supported through the months to come.”
The new development created to monitor support from home includes telehealth visits, twice daily symptom checking, and detailed quarantine instructions. Users of the app do not have to be current patients of Baylor Scott & White. Since the beginning of COVID-19, MyBSWHealth has provided nearly 265,000 digital screenings and 65,000 eVisits.
