By Dênia Cruz

The Orienta Corona RN system, which integrates the technological ecosystem created by the Laboratory for Technological Innovation in Health (LAIS), is the easiest tool to access the new coronavirus aimed directly at assisting the population. The objective is to offer guidance to the population information for their self-care, multiplying individual and collective prevention actions in their homes, neighborhoods and communities, and thus reducing the burden on health services.

Through simple and direct questions, the system seeks to identify the user’s need related to COVID-19. The individual has online access to the system, which can be activated by any device with internet access. The service, according to its creators, consists of two levels:

1st level – Self-service: where the user goes through a virtual service, made by the service’s artificial intelligence, making a screening and answering questions about Coronavirus and Covid-19.

2nd level – Call center: if the user needs more information, they are directed to the call center in a chat, which will be done by a group of medical students under the supervision of health professionals, with more detailed guidance for those looking for the service.

According to a professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) Lyane Ramalho Cortez, coordinator of the Orienta Corona RN service group, the tool is very important in the action plan of the State Secretariat of Public Health (Sesap / RN) for care for possible infected with the Coronavirus. “The application guides people to ask questions about care to avoid contagion, whether or not they need to go to the health unit, whether or not they need to use any medication, what are the symptoms of Covid-19, among other questions. The goal is to provide as much information as possible, to help the population have greater clarification regarding the disease as a whole. It is a very educational tool, and it is still helping to qualify the health service. All of this to avoid overcrowding in health units and hospitals ”, she said.

Technology and information combined in working together
The creation of Orienta Corona RN is the result of the collective partnership of various agencies and institutions in the fight against the pandemic of the new coronavirus in Rio Grande do Norte, uniting the work of information technology professionals. The service has the collaboration of the Distance Education Secretariat of UFRN (SEDIS), SESAP, the Municipal Health Secretariat of Natal, the University Hospital Onofre Lopes (HUOL / UFRN), the Brazilian Company of Hospital Services (EBSERH), of the Nucleus of Collective Health Studies (NESC / UFRN), the Unified Health System (SUS) and the Ministry of Health.

Professor Lyane Ramalho also points out that the service assists the health departments in the following actions:

1. Guide the population on the need to only access the Basic Health Unit in necessary cases, which cannot be postponed, with the Call Center (TA) being made by the application as a way to identify this situation.

2. The data collected by the application will indicate whether the user performing the access belongs to the group considered at risk. In this way, they will have access to the priority queue for the call center.

3. Guide care in the most vulnerable groups, with an emphasis on the elderly, even if they are not respiratory symptoms.

4. Monitor users who are referred by the call center for assistance by the Institute of Tropical Medicine (IMT) or for face-to-face consultation (contact within 48 hours).

5. Guide and support the user when detected that he is in psychological distress due to social isolation.

6. Contribute to the identification of people in situations of extreme vulnerability due to lack of family and community support, with referrals to the appropriate bodies.

7. Support and guide health professionals with regard to continuing education about Covid-19, doubts about referral and referral flows, and how to carry out the notification correctly.

8. Socialize a mapping of the UBS (Basic Health Unit) of municipalities, starting with the municipality of Natal, so that the user can have knowledge of the health services closest to their home and who are able to assist you when necessary .