Healthcare

Health disparities in the United States have contributed to increased death rates from COVID-19 among minority populations. Black Americans with the disease died at a rate 3.6 times higher than white Americans. The new administration, recognizing the severity of the issue, has appointed a task force to address and combat pandemic-related health disparities.

The advent of COVID-19 reminded us that we can’t afford to be complacent. The world is evolving all around us, and if we want our organizations to thrive, we have to be willing and ready to embrace disruption and innovation regularly.

The novel coronavirus has had an enormous impact on healthcare at every level. While much of the attention has focused on the clinical side of COVID-19, from quarantine to diagnosis to treatment, the operational and workforce areas of healthcare have also been affected.

Here are some of the things that healthcare HR leaders can learn from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

As I compile PreCheck’s annual list of most popular blog posts this year, I am reminded of everything that we faced in 2020. In a year that transformed the world via the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, PreCheck and our parent company Cisive focused on providing resources for employers and clients to overcome the challenges presented by the coronavirus.

From disaster privileging to credentialing by proxy and beyond, COVID-19 has profoundly affected medical staff services professionals’ (MSSP) operations and obligations.

There’s always room for improvement, especially when it comes to healthcare processes and patient care. A continuous improvement strategy can have a significant impact on patient outcomes and your organization’s bottom line. Intermountain Healthcare measured the impact of a continuous improvement strategy on their spending and cut costs by 13%, a $700 million savings in 2016 alone.

As an industry that impacts all individuals and groups, including the most vulnerable, healthcare can play a major role in achieving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). This begins with the healthcare workplace, and requires the involvement of healthcare human resources (HR). 

HR leaders understand the importance of developing a strong team, making them key to diversity and inclusion. Healthcare HR departments know the value of reaching out to all possible groups to find top quality individuals who can offer unique, valuable perspectives in the workplace.

Many healthcare organizations adopted telemedicine for the first time during COVID-19, introducing a wave of process changes. Assessing healthcare providers’ competencies and licenses without meeting them in person was new to many, but a wider adoption of credentialing by proxy makes the process more accessible.

After decades of growth and innovation, health technology took an enormous leap forward in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. From contact tracing to treatment to slowing the spread, innovative technology has been crucial in healthcare’s fight against the novel coronavirus.

Here are a few of the ways that healthcare organizations, tech developers, and researchers have leveraged technology to help curb the spread of COVID-19 and maintain a safe workforce.

Medical history is fraught with racial disparities in healthcare, and the problem persists today. Pregnancy-related mortality rates for black women in the U.S.