The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) in partnership with Rush University Medical Center (RUMC) launched a comprehensive data resource hub to centralize hospital information to aid in the fight against COVID-19. This initiative is a new approach to data reporting and informatics gathering and provides CDPH with a robust system for tracking COVID-19 cases, while significantly enhancing the ability to identify trends and mitigate risk throughout the city. Now fully operational, the tool pulls CDPH-mandated data into a common platform. Reports are being completed and input by all 28 Chicagoland hospitals, and include three key data sets:

• Electronic lab reporting, which tracks every COVID-19 test administered in Chicago;

• Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture: Data is pulled from Epic System-enabled sites, which provides a depth of information that has not previously been connected to public health initiatives; and

• COVID-19 Capacity Model, which monitors hospital bed counts across the city in near real time.

Researchers plan to use the data to look at various trends, including health equity and the disproportionate impact of coronavirus on communities of color, while also examining the co-morbidity and age distribution differences within them.