By Julie Appleby – Beating back covid right now comes down to balancing supply and demand. But, as an increasing number of vaccine vials are shipped in coming weeks, the concern about shortages may well shift to human capital: the vaccinators themselves.
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By Luke Smith – The novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV2, created a public health disaster that required an innovative and accessible response. By nature of a pandemic, the effects of the virus have been widespread. Medical professionals are strained in accommodating the crushing demand.
By Gerry Miller – The fragmented nature of health care and public health within the U.S hasn’t helped pandemic response. With the winter season now approaching, things just got worse. Combatting a new and highly contagious disease presents a wide range of challenging problems. But in many ways, our tools only exacerbate the issue.
By Rae Ellen Bichell – The app builders had planned for pranksters, ensuring that only people with verified COVID-19 cases could trigger an alert. They’d planned for heavy criticism about privacy, in many cases making the features as bare-bones as possible. But, as more states roll out smartphone contact-tracing technology, other challenges are emerging. Namely, human nature.
By Amy Abernethy MD, PhD & Vid Desai – FDA’s Technology Modernization Action Plan accelerates the path to enhancing and promoting “People First” public health.
By Erin Schulte – Inspired to help during the COVID pandemic, a volunteer SWAT team of engineering and medical talent combines old-fashioned problem-solving and advanced 3D printing — but will it actually help?
By Harris Meyer – After terrorists slammed a plane into the Pentagon on 9/11, ambulances rushed scores of the injured to community hospitals, but only three of the patients were taken to specialized trauma wards. The reason: The hospitals and ambulances had no real-time information-sharing system.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity to expand and accelerate innovative uses of electronic health information via health information exchanges (HIEs) to support state and local public health agencies.
By Stephen M. Hahn MD & Anand Shah MD – Americans may be surprised to learn that many 21st century medical products are still being manufactured using technologies commonly employed since the middle of the last century. These manufacturing platforms are not dynamic and can increase the risk of shortages, limit flexibility during an emergency, and contribute to the high cost of medical products.