COVID Tests - Dashboard Metrics

The testing numbers are St. Luke’s-specific data. They give us visibility into how the disease is spreading in the communities we serve, which helps us anticipate hospitalizations 1-3 weeks down the road. The main graphs show system-wide data. Use the map to filter data by county.

• St. Luke's COVID-19 Testing by Day - this data shows the overall number of COVID tests administered by St. Luke's each day (entire bar), how many of those tests are pending results (light blue), how many of those tests showed COVID-positive results (dark blue) and how many of those tests showed COVID-negative results (grey). 
  • It's important to note that St. Luke's tests symptomatic patients in our hospitals and in the community, as well as high-priority asymptomatic patients (those without symptoms), such as patients ready for transfer from a St. Luke's hospital to a shared living facility (like a nursing home) and patients preparing for a planned surgery or procedure at St. Luke's. Test results come back negative for most asymptomatic patients, so including these asymptomatic tests in the dashboard provides an accurate picture of tests administered each day, but it also lowers the percentage of COVID-positive results in a way that may not accurately reflect community transmission activity.
  • This data only includes tests for the virus itself. St. Luke's does not test for COVID-19 antibodies.
• Percent of Patients Testing Positive for COVID-19 at St. Luke's (14-day average) - Each point on this chart shows the number of positive COVID test results in the last 14 days as a percentage of the total number of test results during the same time period. This measure is also known as the positivity rate. The line connecting the data points illustrates how the 14-day average positivity rate is trending over time. The positivity rate helps determine when the spread of the virus is under control. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a state or region maintain a positivity rate at 5 percent or lower for at least two weeks before relaxing physical distancing practices. When an area’s positivity rate is too high, it's an indication that the amount of testing may not be sufficient to capture the true spread of the virus.
  
  

Patients in the Hospital - Dashboard Metrics

These metrics help us track how many patients in our hospitals are COVID positive compared to patients in the hospital for other reasons. This data is important because, as the percentage of COVID-positive patients grows, it informs our decisions about other types of care (such as elective surgeries) we may need to reduce to accommodate care for COVID-positive patients. These numbers do not account for pediatric patients or patients who visit a hospital emergency room and do not end up requiring overnight admission to the hospital. The main graphs show system-wide data. Use the tiles at right to filter the data by each St. Luke's hospital.

• Patients admitted to hospital for all reasons: Adults admitted to a St. Luke's hospital as an inpatient (needing treatment that requires hospitalization for at least one night). This number excludes adult patients hospitalized for rehabilitation, behavioral health, and skilled nursing care.  
• COVID positive patients in isolation: Adults admitted to a St. Luke's hospital as an inpatient who have tested positive for COVID-19 and are in isolation because they are infectious.
  • Note: Any COVID-19 patients in the hospital are above our normal volume of patients. Even moderate numbers of hospitalized COVID-19 patients (and small changes in these numbers) can have a significant impact on our operations, stretching staffing and supply resources.
• COVID hospitalizations: Adults who have had a positive COVID test during their hospital stay, but are no longer in isolation because they are no longer infectious or have a non- COVID-related diagnosis. 
• Percent of COVID positive patients that are unvaccinated in St. Luke's hospitals: This measure of COVID-positive adult inpatients that are unvaccinated as a percentage of the total number of adult inpatients that are COVID positive is an indicator of how the care of unvaccinated COVID patients is shaping St. Luke's operations (available beds, staff allocation, etc.). It helps us evaluate our overall capacity for care. 
  • Note: A patient is considered unvaccinated until they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. For the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, a patient is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after their second vaccine dose. For the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a patient is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving their shot.
• Hospital-specific data - when you filter this information by hospital, it's important to note that we limit the volume of COVID-positive patients in certain hospitals so we don't overwhelm hospital staff and supply resources. When a hospital's COVID-positive limit is reached, we transfer additional COVID-positive patients to another St. Luke's hospital. For example, the number of COVID-positive patients in our McCall hospital will always be low because we only briefly care for hospitalized COVID-positive patients in McCall before transferring them to a St. Luke's hospital in the Treasure Valley. Therefore, low numbers of COVID-positive patients in a particular hospital may not accurately reflect the presence of the virus in the local community. Rather, it shows how many local resources are currently dedicated to caring for COVID-positive patients. 

Patients in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) - Dashboard Metrics

These metrics help us track how many patients in our ICUs are COVID positive compared to patients in the ICU for other reasons. These numbers do not account for pediatric patients. The graphs show system-wide data.

• Patients admitted to an ICU for all reasons: All adults admitted to a St. Luke's ICU.  
• COVID positive patients admitted to the hospital: Adults admitted to a St. Luke's ICU who have tested positive for COVID-19.
• Percent of COVID positive patients in St. Luke's ICUs that are unvaccinated: This measure of COVID-positive adult ICU patients as a percentage of the total number of adult ICU patients is an indicator of how the care of unvaccinated patients is shaping St. Luke's ICU operations (available beds, staff allocation, etc.). It helps us evaluate our overall capacity for care. 
  • Note: A patient is considered unvaccinated until they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. For the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, a patient is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after their second vaccine dose. For the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a patient is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving their shot.

COVID-19 Vaccinations at St. Luke's - Dashboard Metrics

These metrics help St. Luke's track our COVID-19 vaccine supply, administration and efficiency. Our ability to administer vaccine is driven primarily by supply, which continues to be extremely limited. Our goal is to administer vaccine to eligible groups in a timely manner; the majority of the time within 7 days of receiving the doses. NOTE: This dashboard is updated weekly by Monday morning. Consistent with the governor's order, St. Luke's provides vaccine data updates to the state of Idaho daily. For more information on COVID vaccine administration throughout the state of Idaho, please visit the state's COVID-19 vaccine data dashboard.

• In the boxes at left:
  • Total doses administered: the total number of vaccine doses administered to people eligible to receive the vaccine (includes primer and booster doses).
  • Total doses received: the total number of vaccine doses St. Luke's has received from the state of Idaho for vaccine administration, including both primer and booster shots.
  • Scheduled appointments: the total number of appointments scheduled at St. Luke's in the next 15 days for vaccine administration, including both primer and booster vaccine appointments. 
  • Total doses on hand: the number of vaccine doses we have in inventory, ready for administration. The difference between total doses on hand and number of scheduled appointments reflects the additional doses we expect to receive but are not yet in inventory.
  • Total percentage of vaccines given: this represents total doses administered as a percentage of total doses received. The doses not yet administered are allocated for delivery at upcoming scheduled vaccine appointments.
• On the bar chart:
  • Vaccine doses administered (dark blue bar): the number of vaccine doses administered each week to people eligible to receive the vaccine, including both primer and booster doses.
  • Vaccine doses received (light blue bar): the number of vaccine doses received from the state of Idaho each week.
  • % administered (dark grey line): vaccine doses administered each week as a percentage of the vaccine doses received each week; tracked to monitor vaccine delivery efficiency.