The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) https://www.cta.tech invited more than a dozen healthcare and technology leaders including Microsoft, SSM Health, and CVS Health to lead the new Pubic Health Tech Initiative to ensure an effective public sector response to future pandemics.
The initiative’s steering committee members also includes representatives from the American College of Cardiology, Brookings, Doctor On Demand, Facebook, Geisinger, Health Innovation Alliance, Northwell Health, Philips, Providence, ResMed.
CTA’s Public Health Tech Initiative aims to build a framework based on lessons learned from the current pandemic, specifically related to the coordination of resources available to bolster public health systems.
The Committee’s first project will be to produce a White Paper based on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. The report will highlight what has worked, analyze issues such as the lack of access to services and technology, and the lack of coordination among sectors. The White Paper will provide recommendations on how to better address public health emergencies.
To discuss the issues further CTA held a virtual webinar Using Technology to Combat Future Public Health Emergencies on August 5th.
Panelists included:
- Dr. David Rhew, CMO, Microsoft and Co-Chair of the Public Health Tech Initiative
- Dr. Alexander Garza, CMO, SSM Health, Current Task Force Commander for the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force and Co-Chair of the Public Health Tech Initiative
- Nicol Turner Lee PhD, Director for the Center for Technology Initiative, Brookings, and a member of the Public Health Tech Initiative
Some of the recommendations presented by the panelists included:
- Telehealth needs to accelerate in use and acceptance
- Identify gaps in health systems, how to bridge the gaps, and how to determine which technologies to use
- Determine the right data to use and how to improve the data flow in health departments
- Invest more funding for the IT Health infrastructure
- Help the medical community to produce new innovations and digital health tools
- Realize that in the future, healthcare will often move from the hospital to the home and require more efficient and sophisticated technology to take care of the patient in the home
- Develop and use up-to-date data technology and artificial intelligence to provide for sophisticated healthcare delivery now and in the future
- Provide immediate and effective care to patients in the home in order to prevent further chronic conditions from developing
- Develop a program based on Community-Based Educators, to help educate people in rural areas with limited knowledge of the English language
- Coordinate and collaborate with government agencies and the health sector to boost the capacity of the public health infrastructure
For more information go to https://www.cta.tech or email Riya Anandwaia, at ranandwala@CTA.tech