“We had to spin up daily data transfers from each of our hospital systems, reporting on testing, positive cases, hospitalizations, nightly census and, of course, patient disposition. These numbers were rapidly translated into dashboards, which were then emailed every morning to hundreds of individuals and teams,” says Butte, adding that the data collected was distributed statewide and to the White House.
Moving forward, Butte says it will be important to also track the health status of UC Health employees. He says the team is looking toward real-time analysis of health system utilization instead of daily tracking.
“We have now shown in the University of California that our systemwide umbrella can really help with finding the synergies across our academic health systems and quickly responding to statewide and national needs,” Butte says.
Prioritizing Equity and Access in Digital Health Solutions
The pandemic enabled Dr. Jennifer Joe, CEO of Vanguard.Health and chief ambassador of the Journal of Medical Internet Research, to expand conversations on equitable healthcare technology solutions. Since the pandemic, Joe has worked with the World Health Organization, the National Institutes of Health and other organizations to deliver digital solutions to healthcare.
“This has brought incredible pressure to create, innovate, deliver and communicate new solutions to the world,” says Joe, who also hosts the MedTech Insights talk show weekly on YouTube.