By John Halamka, MD
Twitter:Â @jhalamka
Over the past seven months, COVID-19 has impacted our lives, and my writing moved from social media to Mayo internal communications, pandemic response research papers, and COVID-focused public awareness campaigns. While the challenges have been considerable, the work since April has validated that the health care system needs novel technologies, policy reform and cultural change. It’s time to return to social media posting.
COVID-19 has forced a level of focus and collaboration that is accelerating the Mayo Clinic Platform’s formation. While we are still navigating the pandemic challenges, but despite the obstacles, there has been significant work accomplished on the platform and through external organizations.
The COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition and The Fight is in Us are two organizations that have emerged, and I have engaged with them to address pandemic needs. Both represent examples of how private and public-private collaborations leverage individual strengths to accomplished shared goals. It is this spirit of cooperation that platform business enables what we are creating with the Mayo Clinic Platform.
While 2020 derailed many business plans, the Mayo Clinic Platform has maintained its focus and implementation schedule. The focus, dedication and teamwork have been extraordinary. The first two business lines, the Clinical Data Analytics Platform and the Virtual Care Platform, were launched and operationalized. A third business line, the Remote Diagnostics and Management Platform, is in development with promising projects.
I look forward to chronicling this journey for you with weekly posts to this blog and additional insights on LinkedIn and Twitter.
John D. Halamka, MD, MS, is President of the Mayo Clinic Platform, where he leads a portfolio of new digital platform businesses focused on transforming health by leveraging artificial intelligence, the internet of things, and an ecosystem of partners for Mayo Clinic. This article was originally published in his blog Dispatch from the Digital Health Frontier and is reprinted here with permission.