A multidisciplinary team that includes a Vanderbilt computer science professor has established the foundation for an automated, up-to-date assessment of personal protective equipment across U.S. hospitals—work that got its start before the COVID-19 pandemic but took on greater urgency.

Significantly, the team developed a secure, third-party system to operate independent of federal and state governments as well as protect the proprietary information of hospitals and hospital systems. No universal database of U.S. hospital PPE data currently exists.

“This could be extremely impactful and important,” said Kelly Aldrich, associate professor of nursing informatics “This will direct the nation’s work in this area.”