Winter 2022 | Volume 11 | Number 1 |
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Recovering and Thriving Post-Pandemic: Part 4 - Health Access and Equity |
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Happy New Year!
I hope all had a memorable holiday season and are now raring to go for all that lies ahead.
We are off to a wonderful start! The first edition of the 2022 WHQ features “Crisis Management Plan for a Pandemic - Lessons from a Healthcare System,” co-authored by Wharton’s Dean Erika James, Hisham M. Valiuddin, DO, WG’22, and Keith C. Hemmert, MD.
The WHCMAA is also excited to mark a major milestone…… the 10-year anniversary of the Wharton Healthcare Quarterly. We will be “Celebrating the Past and Embracing the Future” throughout the year. Planned activities include:
▪ A monthly webinar series presented by an extraordinary group of experts in their field to keep you up to date on a wide range of timely topics.
Join us for the January kick-off with Alexandra Drane, Co-Founder and CEO of ARCHANGELS, a company reframing how caregivers are seen, honored, and supported. Alex has been featured as a TED speaker, in Forbes, interviewed by McKinsey & Company and is also an NEJM Catalyst article co-author. Hear the most recent caregiving data from Alex, published by the CDC and the Journal of Affective Disorders, on the growing mental health crisis among the 43% of us caring for a loved one.
If you are a member of the WHCMAA or a Wharton student in the Healthcare Management Program, there is no charge for the webinar series, but you must still register.)
▪ A “limited edition” 2022 column, “Anniversary Spotlight,” comprised of articles in each issue written by those who helped us back in 2012 by authoring pieces featured in the inaugural year of the WHQ. Harris Contos, DMD, MBA, WG’80 gets us started with “Is Dentistry Ready to Play in the Majors?”
▪ LinkedIn interviews with anniversary participants, which will provide an inside glimpse into the person behind the title, role, and career achievements.
▪ A Philosopher’s Corner eBook
Your interest, feedback, thought leadership, and scholarly contributions have brought us to this point in time. Thank you for a gratifying 10 years!
As we move into a third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges in the healthcare arena remain many and grow more complex. We face a seemingly unending number of variants, supply chain issues, healthcare worker shortages, burnout, and PTSD, crisis standards of care, an increasing number of social determinants of health (SDOHs) which contribute to increasing health disparities and higher costs of care, cybersecurity breaches made more virulent by ransomware attacks, high rates of depression, anxiety, and loneliness, and a worsening opioid crisis.
On the other hand, we have also witnessed advances in health and well-being, experiences that are more personalized and targeted, care delivery aided by the technology to support telehealth, remote monitoring and wearables, virtual reality and fall prevention devices, GPS trackers, and the increasing ability to expand the number and types of care which can be delivered in the home. There has been global collaboration by scientists and researchers to develop vaccines in record time and rapid cycle knowledge gains, workflow reconfigurations, and decision-making previously relegated to a time far in the future.
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As our first Feature Article reminds us, “The COVID-19 pandemic provided a rare opportunity to stress test every organization. Each organization could be judged on how they coped with the same universal adversity. An organization’s mission, vision, values, and culture were pressure-tested through the historic crisis.”
And as Londoner John Trusler noted centuries ago, “No time like the present, a thousand unforeseen circumstances may interrupt you at a future time.” (Proverbs Exemplified, 1790).
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Have an article to contribute or words of wisdom for the Philosopher's Corner?
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See what our alumni have been up to.
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Access previous newsletter editions. |
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I am energized by all of the plans we have for the WHCMAA in the upcoming year and am looking forward to connecting with all of you.
As I mentioned in my last President’s Desk note, we have created a new committee on the WHCMAA board that is dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusion and to advancing health equity. Bhuvan Srinivasan is leading the team in developing goals and supporting activities for this board term, which you will hear more about in future newsletters. If you are interested in contributing to this committee or have any feedback or ideas for the board, please reach out to Bhuvan at: bhuvan.srinivasan@gmail.com or to me.
We are also pleased to be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Wharton Healthcare Quarterly. Our Managing Editor, Z. Colette Edwards, MD, MBA, has an exciting slate of activities planned for 2022. Read more.
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This eclectic standing column features insightful musings, words of wisdom, life lessons, and stepping stones to business success. This month's philosopher is Heidi Sprang, WG'02, Senior Vice President of Strategy, Planning, and Alliance Management at Akebia Therapeutics, where she currently oversees the company’s global alliances, steers program execution, and leads renal disease strategy and evaluation of new growth avenues. Read more.
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Affidavit: Healthcare and the Law - Prescribing Psychedelics to Treat Mental Illness
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Millions of Americans suffer from some form of mental illness each year. Psychedelics have been shown to be viable alternatives in treating depression, substance use disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), eating disorders, anxiety, and other mental illnesses.
However, research on psychedelics has been incredibly limited for the better part of the last 50 years due to various regulatory and societal obstacles that are still very much at play. Some of the major obstacles include federal regulation of psychedelics by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), as well as regulation at the state level. However, both the FDA and DEA have recently acknowledged the growing body of evidence supporting the use of psychedelics for legitimate medical purposes, indicating attempts to reschedule may not be entirely in vain. Read more.
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Downloading Success: 9 Learning Agility Strategies to Help You Thrive During Challenging Times
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Turbulent times are not new to leaders and organizations. However, the recent pandemic has produced a level of personal stress and organizational upheaval not seen in modern times. With healthcare experiencing more unexpected volatility, uncertainty, and complexity than most, it’s no surprise leaders and teams are fatigued and languishing under the relentless pressure. During the pandemic, many organizations have struggled, yet many others are thriving in the chaos. So, what is it that sets them apart? Read more.
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CyberVitals: 5 Security Lessons for Connected Healthcare
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Ransomware is top of mind across healthcare these days, as institutions are attacked and forced to deal with unsavory negotiations. While healthcare delivery organizations often suffer financial, reputational, and patient impacts, we would be remiss to not think about how we got here. The requirement for connectivity in most settings is driven by devices or systems which require it. Learn 5 lessons we should all consider when choosing to connect a device or system in a healthcare setting. Read more.
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Crisis Management Plan for a Pandemic: Lessons from a Healthcare System |
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Every organization in the world has had to rethink operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Facing a global pandemic on a scale not seen in over a century, organizations in every industry faced massive disruption. The healthcare industry faced perhaps the most difficult challenge: not just to survive the pandemic, but also to care for the victims of it.
The principles outlined herein highlight the need for leaders to prepare proactive crisis management strategies. Doing so will enable them not just to survive a crisis, but to convert the threat into an opportunity to reinforce the mission, vision, and values of the organization. Read more.
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"Anniversary Spotlight":
Is Dentistry Ready to Play in the Majors?
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Welcome to the first article in the “limited edition” 2022 WHQ column series, “Anniversary Spotlight.” These articles are written by contributors who helped launch the inaugural year of the Wharton Healthcare Quarterly in 2012.
Can dentistry play by the rules of contemporary healthcare and become meaningfully integrated into it? Or will it remain, by its own choice, something historically apart? Read more.
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What Do Investors in the Women's Health Industry Need to Know About Telehealth Laws in 2022?
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2022 is expected to blow by 2021 as a record-breaking year of investments and exits in the women’s health and wellness industry. Healthcare laws on telehealth, expanded payor reim-bursement, and closing of gaps between existing laws and innovative solutions will shape the future of the women’s health and wellness industry. However, no legal area is expected to change and have as much uncertainly in 2022 as telehealth. Investors of all types are sourcing deals for 2022 and talking about women’s health as the next big thing. This is what investors need to know about the predicted future of telehealth laws in 2022. Read more.
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Harnessing AI to Identify Undiagnosed Behavioral Health Conditions - Cutting Costs and Improving Lives |
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Individuals with a high risk of undiagnosed BH conditions have a 2.8X higher probability of becoming “cost bloomers” (patients who experience a surge in healthcare costs over multiple years) than the general population. When they become cost bloomers, the cost of care is greater than average cost bloomers, $58,888 per member per year (PMPY) vs. a patient without an undiagnosed behavioral health condition.
Diagnostic Robotics was selected by Forbes as one The Next Billion Dollar Start-Ups. Learn how smart AI implementation can help proactively identify individuals in need of appropriate screening and management leading to reduced cost of care and improved patient lives. Read more.
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Home Health Care and a Time for Growth
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According to The Commonwealth Fund, approximately 4.5 million people used some form of home health in 2016, and 78 percent of those users were Medicare beneficiaries. As CEO and the Practice President of the Senior Care Group at BAYADA Home Health Care, a leading global not-for-profit provider of in-home healthcare and support services spanning birth to end-of-life — including senior care and physician services to provide primary care services to homebound seniors — I have seen this number is only continuing to grow as America grows older and more people are looking to age in place in the comfort of their homes with their loved ones. In fact, The Urban Institute reports the number of Americans age 65 and older will more than double by the year 2040 — reaching 80 million people. Read more.
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Recovering and Thriving Post-Pandemic: Part 3 - Pediatric Care and Children's Hospitals
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As the third article in our series, we are going to focus on pediatric care and children’s hospitals. If you have followed our series so far (Part 1 and Part 2), you already know we are covering tactics for healthcare organizations of all kinds to recover and thrive as the pandemic recedes. We will touch on issues unique to the pediatric arena, as well as tactics to support financial and operational recovery. Read more.
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The Value of Coaching in Academic Medicine
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The intense stressors on leadership in academic medical centers (AMCs) have been exacerbated by the turbulence of the current moment and the many dimensions in which it manifests — around workforce challenges and burnout, financial stresses, mergers and acquisitions, technological shifts, and evolving regulations. Though highly trained in their disciplines, clinical leaders need to tap into the full breadth of skills necessary to lead complex organizations. In contrast to other leadership training approaches, coaching provides advice over an extended timeframe and skill-building based on the actual, real-time challenges encountered by leaders in their roles. Read more.
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Wharton Around the Globe: WGHV Aims to Improve Access for Underserved Populations - Upgrading a Rural Health Center and Expanding E-Pharmacy in Kenya
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The Wharton Global Health Volunteers (WGHV) are kicking off a year-long project to upgrade an existing hospital system in rural western Kenya to better serve the population of Baringo county and the pastoral Pokot people living in the surrounding region. Specifically, the WGHV team is collaborating with MBA students at Strathmore University, the Order of Malta, and the Kenyan office of a global healthcare consultancy to develop a sustainable financing model for the enhanced and expanded facility, address staffing challenges, and improve transportation mechanisms and access. Read more.
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within are those of the authors and editors of the articles and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of the Wharton School and/or the University of Pennsylvania, and/or their respective organizations. Publication in this e-magazine should not be considered an endorsement. The Wharton Healthcare Quarterly and WHCMAA make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information in this e-magazine and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use.
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