How to save a life: Easing grief from inside COVID ICUs

Healthcare providers are using an approach called Communication and Optimal Resolution to acknowledge medical errors and work towards a solution with open communication instead of through court hearings.

Technology has allowed courts across the country to maintain - and even expand, -services during COVID-19. In Utah, courts held remote hearings and used Doodle to schedule hearings and request interpreters. The virtual schedules filled up fast and, in some cases, officials had to bring laptops and tablets to people who lacked access to technology. Spreading the word in unique ways, including social media, and setting up mobile courts addressed some access issues, particularly among people experiencing homelessness.

West Virginia has implemented a digital platform that allows residents to sign up for notifications if leftover doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are available for use near them. Although the system is only accessible to those with internet, it has resulted in far fewer people phoning the hotline, which in turn has allowed for greater ease for those without internet access to sign up for appointments.

Researchers from Stanford University have developed a software that uses machine-learning algorithms to identify and flag urgent faxes about COVID-19 cases. While the project doesn't have complete accuracy, it has helped overwhelmed and overburdened health care workers at the health department in Contra Costa County, California work more efficiently.

The Carolina Community Tracing Collaborative (CCTC) is the first statewide coordinated care network that contact traces new COVID-19 cases and electronically connects people to community resources. Investigators interview newly diagnosed patients, provide information about appropriately isolating, and identify people who were potentially exposed, all of whom are also contacted and connected to resources. Information is entered into a secure online system at each stage and individuals are followed up with. It is not clear that CCTC has successfully tracked the origins of many widespread COVID-19 infections.

As the coronavirus death toll increases, churches and funeral homes are trying to quickly adapt to ways to create space for grieving while also abiding by mandated limits on the size of group gatherings. Some have implemented aggressive sanitation and social distancing routines while others are utilizing technology and broadcasting the service over online ­conference-meeting applications.

When coronavirus began spreading in New York, SAR High School in the Bronx took rapid measures to begin education around distance learning, before the virus spread to the county. Although the transition hasn't been without obstacles, the prioritization of providing teachers a series of how-to guides, has allowed teachers to maintain orderliness to their classes and also offer other services via video conference such as sitting Shiva.

The Medicare system is struggling with rising costs and a rapidly aging population, but one solution to the issue might be to encourage people to lay out end-of-life plans and wishes before a health crisis. The Providence St. Joseph health care system is piloting an effort to do just that, working through the barriers to end-of-life planning with financial incentives, comprehensive data, and targeted efforts to make advanced directives, also known as living wills, more common. So far, the initiative has seen "slightly more than 13 percent [of patients] complete [and record] an advance directive."

The healthcare world is highly innovative right now as it tries to make medicine more personalized and harnesses engineering. Hitachi is trying to aggregate data in order to prevent disease and help the healthcare system function better.

Improving health care with the patient’s goals in mind requires in-person consultations and a system that efficiently collects data from the patient’s medical history and treatment. The Camden Coalition Health Information provides a network of electronic medical records for each patient with data contributed from hospitals and labs. The Exchange also uses “health care hotspotting” to connect patients with services that have had success and offers in-person conversations to chart their progress.