Electronic Personal Protective Equipment: A Strategy to Protect Emergency Department Providers in the Age of COVID-19

Abstract

[Abstract]. Emergent policy changes related to telemedicine and the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) during the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) have created opportunities for technology-based clinical evaluation, which serves to conserve personal protective equipment (PPE) and protect emergency providers. We define electronic personal protective equipment (ePPE) as an approach using telemedicine tools to perform electronic medical screening exams while satisfying EMTALA. We discuss the safety, legal, and technical factors necessary for implementing such a pathway. This approach has the potential to conserve PPE and protect providers while maintaining safe standards for medical screening exams in the ED for low risk patients in whom COVID-19 is suspected.