Population Health
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This week Fred and I discuss the concerns regarding variants including a recently pre-published article (Evidence for increased breakthrough rates of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in BNT162b2 mRNA vaccinated individuals). That has some people worried that they can still get infected with COVID19 – the so called ‘Breakthrough’ infections. We review the details of the […]
This week Fred and I discuss the assessment of risk in the context of vaccines and their effectiveness at combatting the COVID19 disease and the challenge of putting risk in perspective. The numbers you hear don’t tell the story and even when you think you understand the data, you may not as the inputs and […]
This week Fred and discuss the updated guidelines for travel from the CDC for those that are vaccinated and what that will mean domestically and international. Hint – you will still need to use the NPI including wearing a mask for some time yet. Fred shares his second vaccine experience, and we talk about what […]
Health Information Exchanges This week I am talking to Lisa Bari, Interim CEO for the Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative (SHIEC). Lisa started her career in the Bay area in digital marketing for Practice Fusion, and winding through CMS where she worked on the interoperability rules. Along the way discovering the incremental insight that for policy changes you […]
This week Fred and I dive into SARS-CoV-2 variants, what they are, what they mean and how they work. We discuss why some of these variants appear to be more infectious and review the ongoing stream of news around variants and how you should interpret this news and its impact on your businesses, employees, students […]
This week Fred talks about his personal vaccine experience and some of the challenges of coordination that need to be resolved so as many people as possible get access to vaccination as quickly as possible. Different states and counties have different processes some work well, others create difficulties for people at different stages. We also […]
Looking Back This week we reached a milestone of our 50th Episode on COVID19 and we take a look back at our predictions of what we got right: 📏Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPI) key to mitigation 🛑There is no return to normal – we return to something different 🧪Testing critical to mitigation 🌮Office considerations including for employees, […]
Thanks to the extensive bubble created by the NBA and daily testing that included genomic analysis scientists were able to take a detailed look at the variants. Their early work with the SWISH study (Surveillance with Improved Screening and Health), the study validated the saliva test for SARS-CoV-2, (I’m sure millions of noses thank them!) […]
This week Fred reviews the latest school recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that released a new Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools to incorporate the best available evidence at this time. The evidence suggests that many K-12 schools that have strictly implemented mitigation strategies have been able to safely open for […]
This week’s discussion centers on the latest trend of “Vaccine Shopping”. What’s that you ask – I had the same question. For some who are struggling with accessing appointments, worried that their appointment might be canceled, or even thinking they want to pick and choose the vaccine they get, they are booking multiple appointments. While […]
This week’s discussion centers on contact tracing and some of the complexities of doing this in a workplace or college setting. The Johns Hopkins Contact Tracing Course is a good starting place but as anyone who takes the course will discover understanding the basic principles is just a starting point and there are many factors to […]
Mental Health Challenges Sadly, we are seeing increasing rates of brain health challenges around the country and likely the world. Problems that existed before having been amplified by the pandemic and the social isolation we are all experiencing. The impact of this is not just confined to adults and employees but permeates throughout our society […]
To close out the year Fred Goldstein and I review the things that took place in 2020 in healthcare generally that includes: A renewed focus on “Surprise billing” Getting everyone including patients seamless health data access Drug pricing transparency and why the US pays so much more The FDA warns Vaping is bad for your […]
Airflow in South Korean Restaurant Two studies recently released build on earlier work to inform our understanding of airflow and how it spreads the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Fred reviews the airflow in cars and highlights important actionable information on optimum means of diminishing the risk of spreading the disease to other passengers in the car and […]
Which COVID19 Test Leading up to the Thanksgiving break there was a challenge getting tested. What unfolded for some people was getting a test that provided little useful information. Sadly, with the constantly changing landscape of COVID19 determining what test you should be getting and what the results mean can be difficult. This week Fred […]
Haircut, and Would you Like Heart Checkup To? This week I am talking to Andrew Suggs, Co-Founder of Live-Chair (@livechairinc) – addressing healthcare disparities through the community of trusted barbers and barbershops (long the center of medicine and in particular surgery). The company started out providing scheduling and customer management tools to the many barbershops […]
The Cohort of Missing Care and Vaccination This months episode of “News you can Use” in the traditions of “Ask Me Anything” on HealthcareNOWRadio features news from the month of September You can read more about the series here and the concept of keeping up with innovating in healthcare. Please send me your suggestions on topics you’d like to see […]
Hard to imagine but we are 10 months into this crisis, and it is 7 months since the WHO declared this to be a Pandemic. It is clear there is fatigue in all areas of our society and world. There is fatigue in the impact it is having economically and the new daily challenges we […]
This week I discuss the “hold” on the Astrazeneca Oxford SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, AZD1222, Phase 3 vaccine trial. History is replete with learning opportunities and thankfully science is always trying to use these insights for their benefit of the advancement of our understanding. Case in point we have learned much about vaccine safety and how-to bring vaccines […]
Data Sharing is Data Caring This week I am talking to Sita Kapoor, CIO, and Co-Founder of HealthEC a data company that is connecting the dots in healthcare. As you will hear Sita has a fascinating background that started in the aeronautics sector as part of an engineering team that programmed the navigational backup system […]
Is COVID19 Mutating This week I am talking about the virus mutation and the concern this raises about our potential to produce a vaccine that offers immunity that lasts. Viruses change over time and each group of viruses and individuals within groups have different rates. Our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 suggests it does change and likely […]
COVID19 Spread by Droplet This week Fred Goldstein and I discuss aerosolization, droplets, and what the latest science is telling us (you can read more about the study: Persistence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Aerosol Suspensions). The impact of this is significant on how we respond to this crisis, what behaviors to […]
So how do you assess testing strategies for your business, your employees, customers, and vendors? This week I am updating the current guidance on testing strategies and thinking about what kind of tests are available, virus and antibody testing and who and when you should be thinking about testing. The answer is complicated and varies […]
Building Lasting Change in Healthcare This week I am talking to Stacey Chang, Executive Director and Founder, Design Institute for Health and a Professor, Dell Medical School and College of Fine Arts. They have recently announced a First-of-Its-Kind Master’s in Design in Health Launches at UT Austin that is taking applications for Fall 2020 course that is the only […]
It may be hard to imagine now but there will be a time when we emerge from our houses and the physical isolation/shelter-in-place and return to work. But doing so is going to require some adaptations and changes to the way we do business, our personal and professional lives. The tail of the SARS-CoV-2 virus […]
