The Healthcare Worker Exposure Response & Outcomes (HERO) Registery recently launched, inviting U.S. healthcare workers to share clinical and life experiences in order to understand the perspectives and problems faced by those on the COVID-19 pandemic front lines.
The registry will unite America’s healthcare workers into a community to facilitate rapid-cycle research, including an upcoming large study of hydroxychloroquine’s effectiveness in preventing coronavirus infections in healthcare workers. The HERO research program leverages PCORnet®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, and is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
The HERO Registery is asking hundreds of thousands of healthcare professionals to participate, including nurses, therapists, physicians, emergency responders, food service workers, environmental services workers, interpreters, and transporters – anyone who works in a setting where people receive health care.
“I’m calling on my fellow Williamson County healthcare workers to share their perspectives so that we can understand and provide answers to the problems they face in real time – and over time,” said Dr. Aaron Milstone, M.D. of Williamson Medical Center.
The goals of the registry are to engage healthcare workers in a research community, understand their experiences and interests through ongoing surveys, and track critical health outcomes associated with caring for patients with COVID-19, such as stress and burnout. The HERO Registery will help speed clinical studies that address unmet needs for healthcare workers, such as an upcoming study of hydroxychloroquine. HERO-HCQ is a randomized clinical trial of approximately 15,000 HERO Registery participants that will evaluate whether hydroxychloroquine (brand name Plaquenil®) is better than placebo in preventing COVID-19 infection. It will be conducted through clinical research sites in PCORnet.
“We have long been working with PCORnet to answer big healthcare questions together,” said Dr. Milstone. “COVID-19 is the challenge we are facing today and PCORnet is ready to meet the moment.”
There is no cost to enroll in the HERO Registry and registration takes only a few minutes. Healthcare workers can participate as much or as little as they like in surveys and other opportunities. The registry will follow a protocol developed by the DCRI and data guidelines to keep healthcare worker information secure.
“It is hard to think that by doing my daily job, not only can I get sick, but I can infect those that I love the most,” said Jorge Lascano, associate professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care, University of Florida, part of the OneFlorida network, in a video message. “This is the time to be proactive, to develop ways to stay safe on the front lines. I encourage everyone to be a part of HERO—and part of the solution.”
To learn more about the HERO Registery, visit https://heroesresearch.org.
