JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic emerged globally in a rapid and precipitous manner devastating healthcare organizations worldwide. The progression of the illness, the impact to the vulnerable and best care for the hospitalized patient, is undefined. Incomplete knowledge of best practices by frontline health care providers may result in error-prone care. Data on symptoms and advancement of the SARS-CoV-2 virus leading to critical care admission has not been captured or communicated well between international organizations experiencing the same impact from the virus. As the SARS-CoV-2 virus quickly reached every country, it was recognized that global communication and data collection on the critical care patients admitted with COVID-19 needed to be rapidly put in place. Developing a global registry to collect patient data and treatment in the critical care setting was of utmost priority with the goal to minimize preventable death, disability, and costly complications for patients with COVID-19. Project management around the prompt implementation of the registry is crucial. Valuable information could be lost daily without a format to record data and the opportunity to share significant findings. Putting the VIRUS: COVID-19 Registry in place could change patient outcomes by gaining insight to progression of symptoms and treatments worldwide. This article addresses project management lessons in a time of crises outlining the methodology used and is meant to be a useful tool for other organizations for rapid project management for a large-scale health care data registry.