As of today, the coronavirus has infected almost 2 million worldwide and caused the deaths of more than 125,000 people (Worldometer data as of 12:15 PM on April 14, 2020). In the United States, the relevant figures are more than 600,000 infected and north of 25,000 deceased. Without successful social distancing, those numbers could be dramatically worse.
And still, they are dwarfed by the massive numbers associated with the economic impact of the coronavirus and the illness it causes,
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COVID-19: Is Your Hospital’s Supply Chain Ready for Coronavirus?
Chances are good the face mask you’re wearing or have on hand (just in case) was made outside the United States, maybe in China.
In calmer times, that wouldn’t matter much. But when Chinese officials are trying to stem a global pandemic that started in a Chinese city, how likely is it that the country will continue to export face masks at the same rate?
This isn’t a hypothetical. With the spread of COVID-19, aka, coronavirus, we know the answer is not very, and that it impacts a great deal
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How Do We Make Dignity the Animating Principle in Healthcare?
Dignity-focused organizations are not easy to define, but also not hard to recognize. Justice Stewart
It’s all about the patient. Well, unless that patient has been to particular hospitals for treatment and is having trouble paying the ensuing bills. Then it’s about the hospital and collections agents and wage garnishments and such.
For this approach to providing care, the Lown Institute, a nonpartisan think tank advocating for bold healthcare ideas, honored a group of what they clearly
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Are EHRs A Guard Against Human Nature?
Because we have big brains and have been to the moon and have invented remarkably complex stuff, the idea persists that human beings are inherently rational. This idea is both untrue and ironic, but not in a black-fly-in-the-chardonnay way.
Rational beings, by definition, would make decisions based on proven, reliable data and learned the reason. Most of the time, human beings use impulses, moods, emotions and urges to make decisions, all the while believing they are the reincarnation of
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Youth Suicide & Depression Crisis: Can Health IT Make A Positive Impact?
Perhaps it’s because we live in an age of competing epidemics and crises—opioids, impeachment, homelessness, insulin—that youth suicide trends don’t warrant a front-page headline every week.The numbing, knee-bending statistics say they should.Per the CDC, suicide rates among young people 10-24 years old rose 56 percent between 2007 and 2017. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for that group after accidents like car crashes—paradoxical tragedies often caused by the excessive
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AI in Healthcare Is Exciting, However, It Is No Reason to Overpay For It
Eventually, many conversations about artificial intelligence (AI) include HAL.
An acronym for Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer, HAL played a prominent and disconcerting role in Stanley Kubrick’s mind-bending 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. In the film, sentient computer HAL learns that the humans suspect it of being in error and will disconnect it should that error be confirmed. Of course, HAL is having none of that, and terror ensues.
So influential was
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Patients Are Not Consumers. Healthcare Is Not A Typical Business
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that I have an extreme Diet Coke emergency. (I never have, but that’s beside the point.)
At 2 AM on a Wednesday I awake with an unforgiving need to drink Diet Coke. I dress and head out to find the nearest 24-hour convenience store, where I can satisfy my damnable craving by paying a bit more for Diet Coke than I would at a grocery store.
I pay slightly more for a few reasons related to the cost of convenience, the lack of more affordable options at 2 AM, the
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It’s All Public Health, and It’s Driven by Data
Americans are used to seeing California as a bellwether. Whether or not that’s a good or bad thing often depends on individual perspective.
But there’s less room for differences of opinion when it comes to housing and homelessness. With a booming economy that is now the fifth largest on planet Earth, California has also experienced a dramatic rise in homelessness in recent years. In Los Angeles County alone, homelessness has risen in three of the last four years, with a 12 percent
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You Want Patient Engagement? Make The System Navigable
Last month, New York Times reporter Robert Pear died at age 69 from complications of a stroke. The name was unfamiliar to me, and I guess that’s to be expected, given what I’ve learned of the man since.
Turns out Robert Pear was a thoughtful, unassuming reporter who wanted the accuracy and validity of his work to speak for him. This approach engendered much respect among his peers in the 40 years that he primarily covered healthcare policy.
“Robert was an exacting reporter,” writes
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Haves vs. Have-Nots in Healthcare: Why The Haves Are Still Winning
Ideology is a beguiling mistress. When she winks and showers rewards on the faithful, they’re much more likely to focus on successes over failures moving forward, even if the latter vastly outnumber the former.
My use of the word ‘ideology’ here is intentional. I come from rather humble beginnings and have experienced the benefits that a market-based capitalist system offers to those willing to work hard and color inside the lines. I’ve earned a level of prosperity my parents could only dream
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