SAN FRANCISCO — In response to the coronovairus outbreak, Calimex partnered with Otava to offer free access to its donor health questionnaire application, eDHQ Lite.

The application for hospitals and blood donation facilities gives donors a way to save time by filling out their required health questionnaire at home electronically before going to give blood, which significantly reduces the amount of time donors spend on-site. Communication through the remote app is safe and compliant, backed by Otava’s hosted managed cloud solutions.

The global spread of COVID-19 has created a greater need for blood and plasma donations for those who regularly rely on blood products. In addition, convalescent plasma is now being used to develop serums recently approved for clinical trials by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

To respond to both needs, blood and plasma collection sites now have the opportunity to access eDHQ Lite, free of charge through December 31.

“The traditional process of completing a donor health questionnaire, or DHQ, includes about 30 minutes of paperwork at the donor center before the donation process even begins,” said Calimex CEO Sam Waran. “Eliminating paper or kiosk-enabled forms minimizes donors’ physical contact with surfaces to help reduce their risk of exposure. The eDHQ Lite application is easy to use and lets donors click a link to fill out the DHQ form electronically from anywhere with little or no training.”

Calimex’s eDHQ Lite is a cloud access security inspection (CASI) application using an enhanced security profile backed by Otava’s secure, compliant managed cloud solutions. Otava was the first cloud solutions provider in the U.S. to meet HIPAA compliance standards and has passed its independent HIPAA audit with 100% compliance against the latest Office of Civil Rights HIPAA Audit Protocol every year.

“The coronavirus pandemic has created a real need to encourage and support donors of blood and plasma,” said Brad Cheedle, CEO at Otava. “Working with Calimex, we are simplifying the process and minimizing the time it takes to donate blood or plasma while providing the security and compliance required of the health care industry.”

The FDA has provided updated guidance to address the urgent need for blood products during the pandemic, and the American Red Cross estimates that someone in the U.S. needs blood every two seconds.

“Ultimately, our goal is to help health care providers meet patient needs and give researchers the tools they need to innovate new treatments,” said Waran.

Hospitals and blood centers interested in subscribing to eDHQ Lite can visit www.edhq.net for more information.