Despite decades of scientific progress against cancer, access to treatment remains highly unequal. Some of the reasons — like institutional racism and poverty — are a reflection of our broader society. Other inequities may go unrecognized but are no less damaging. People with underlying health conditions, for example, may be excluded from clinical trials, preventing them from accessing leading-edge treatments and limiting the evidence available to guide their care.
With multiple drivers of
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Why Families Need the Closure Whole Genome Sequencing Provides
For medical practitioners expertly trained in the scientific methods of discovery, having a young patient with serious health complications from an undiagnosed condition is about as somber and frustrating as it gets. These feelings are only magnified for parents of the patient, especially when searching for a diagnosis can go on for years. This is the essence of what is known as the “diagnostic odyssey.”
Honing in on a rare disease diagnosis involves thorough medical history evaluations,
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How the Pandemic is Accelerating the Shift to Alternative Care Delivery Models
The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed how we interact with one another, with businesses, and with the world around us. From social distancing to hand sanitation to remote working, its impact on society is immense. And among the various industries that are experiencing significant change as a result of the pandemic, healthcare tops the list. Supply chain disruptions, crowded ICUs and exhausted medical staff has taken a toll on hospitals and clinics — and they’ve had to pivot rapidly to new
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How NLP Can Uncover Social Determinants of Heart Disease
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for people of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Cardiovascular disease-related deaths—which occur every 36 seconds—cost our country about $219 billion each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). People with poor cardiovascular health are also at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19, so the time to act is now. There’s no time like the present to look at major risk factors—from obesity and
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Cloud Technologies in Healthcare: Improving Access to Care at Lower Costs
The healthcare industry has been among those at the fore when it comes to cloud adoption. It’s no wonder then that between 2020 and 2024, the global market is projected to see a rise of nearly US$25.54 billion in cloud technologies in this industry1. What has spurred healthcare to be one of the leading adopters of cloud technologies? The industry is inundated with data from multiple sources like doctor’s and nurses’ notes, electronic health records (EHR), personal health records (PHR),
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3 Ways Providers Can Navigate COVID-19 Vaccination Rollout Successfully
The New Year brings hope and promises that an end to the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight. With two vaccines authorized by the FDA for emergency use, and close to 3 million healthcare workers already vaccinated, there is hope that this virus will be eradicated and life will begin to return to normal by year’s end.
However, for the frontline healthcare workers still treating escalating case volumes, the physical and emotional toll is devastating. With another surge forecasted for
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Quality Virtual Care Matters for Patients – Even More Than Telehealth
The COVID-19 pandemic made healthcare visits over video or phone the norm, likely turning telehealth into a permanent fixture within the U.S. healthcare system. In fact, the majority of patient access leaders at large hospitals believe 20-30 percent of appointments will happen over video in 2021, according to recent research. Further, an overwhelming portion of those leaders – 95 percent of them – believe the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should continue to reimburse for video
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Ambulatory Considerations for Remote Patient Monitoring Technologies
The use of healthcare technology solutions in clinical settings is a time-tested conventional practice, and it’s becoming more commonplace in remote patient monitoring (RPM) as supporting technologies drive more innovation. With the broad range of care encompassed by the term “RPM,” there are a number of factors that can impact the overall effectiveness of monitoring patient vitals and other physiological parameters in remote, non-clinical situations.
When a patient transitions from a
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Achieving Financial Sustainability: A Connected Community of Care’s #1 Goal
“Show me the money!” No one old enough to have seen the 1996 movie, Jerry Maguire, will ever forget that memorable phrase. That simple but powerful phrase could apply to every person who punches a clock for a living and just about every business, including community-based organizations (CBOs) and Connected Communities of Care (CCC). For CCCs and other non-profits, a parallel but no less powerful phrase, “No margin, no mission,” also rings true― just ask Sister Irene Kraus of the Daughters
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Why A Smart Command Center Requires A Health Cloud Platform
Aviation, military, NASA, or even utilities like the New York Power Authority—almost all high-consequence, complex organizations have one thing in common: a command center. The concept of a command center or a ‘war room,’ or ‘air traffic control’ has been around for a while. Command centers help counter logistical challenges, enable cross-collaboration and guide decision-making with state-of-the-art technology and communications. With them it seems there is absolutely nothing that cannot be
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