Patient Unified Lookup System for Emergencies (PULSE)

What is PULSE?

The PULSE™ initiative is an effort to support national resilience through access to health information during disasters, including public health emergencies. PULSE provides a process for states and localities to grant response personnel (e.g., epidemiologists, emergency medical services, and health care volunteers) secure access to vital health information during disasters, ensuring patients can continue to receive care when and where they need it.

PULSE is more than a technical solution—it is a state/local approach to accessing health information during disasters. Every disaster affects each state/locality differently, and PULSE allows states and localities to customize their approach based on their needs and policies, or other health information technology (IT) being utilized.

In addition to a PULSE technical solution, states/localities need to consider the following:

• Governance
• Support services
• State and local HIE capacity
• Legal and policy considerations (e.g., activation, privacy, security, training, alignment with existing laws and policies, etc.)
• Programmatic support and funding

PULSE Community Edition: Getting Started Guide Version 3 (July 2020) (coming Soon)

PULSE Technical Solutions

ONC Developed:

• PULSE Community Edition is a PULSE technical solution managed by ONC that is designed to be a code only resource that is scalable, flexible, non-proprietary, and available at no cost to state, territorial, local, and tribal governments and their public and private sector partners through the ONC GitHub (see more below).

Private Sector Developed:

• PULSE Enterprise Edition is a PULSE technical solution developed and fully supported by Audacious Inquiry. It includes Audacious Inquiry proprietary code and will continue to be optimized over time. There is a fee for onboarding and ongoing support.
• PULSE COVID is a PULSE technical solution that was developed and is fully supported by Audacious Inquiry to specifically support the response to COVID-19. This solution will no longer be available after December 31, 2020. There is a fee for onboarding and ongoing support.

History/Background

What is the PULSE Community Edition?

ONC has developed a new PULSE technical solution, called the PULSE Community Edition (PULSE Community), to enable first responders and health care volunteers to access vital health information during disasters. PULSE Community is a code only solution and is not a technology product. This solution is scalable, flexible, non-proprietary, and available at no cost to state, territorial, local, and tribal governments, and their public and private sector partners through the ONC GitHub.

PULSE Community gives state and local governments the flexibility to build upon existing health information exchange infrastructure to create a more customized PULSE program that utilizes existing resources. Since PULSE Community is a code only solution, it requires substantial developer and/or state/local government IT support and resources to become operational. If you would like to learn more about PULSE Community, please email us at ONCPulse@hhs.gov.

PULSE Community Edition: Getting Started Guide Version 3 (July 2020) (coming soon)

Public and Private Partners Involved with PULSE

• Department of Health and Human Services, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of EMS
• The Sequoia Project
• Audacious Inquiry
• California Emergency Medical Services Authority
• Texas Health Services Authority
• Florida HIE Services