Healthcare Analytics: Emergency Preparedness for COVID-19

The first COVID-19 case in the US was reported on January 20, 2020, and Washington State became a reliable source for hospital bed demand modeling. This book discusses the need for documenting what has been learned by the academic and professional healthcare communities in healthcare analytics and disaster preparedness to this point in the pandemic. Analytics provides clarity and helps explain causation and data relationships, and a more structured approach to teaching healthcare analytics to students provides a ready-made case study for disaster planning and preparedness. Government officials and policy makers can use this data to decide how best to assist the healthcare and public health systems in crisis.

Format: Hardback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 09 August 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

The first COVID-19 case in the US was reported on January 20, 2020, marking the beginning of a global pandemic that would have far-reaching consequences. As the first cases were being reported in the US, Washington State emerged as a key player in understanding the impact of the virus on healthcare systems. The state became a reliable source for hospital bed demand based on incidence and community spread, as well as for modeling the impact of skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities on hospital bed demand.

Various hospital bed demand modeling efforts began in earnest across the United States in university settings, private consulting firms, and health systems. The University of Washington Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) gained a significant foothold nationally, with many states adopting its models for predicting the epidemiological curve by state, including the peak.

This book serves as a valuable resource for documenting the lessons learned by the academic and professional healthcare communities in healthcare analytics and disaster preparedness to this point in the pandemic. It highlights the healthcare system's unpreparedness and uncoordination from an analytics perspective, emphasizing the need for improvement. Learning from this experience will undoubtedly better prepare all healthcare systems and leaders for future crises.

From a modeling perspective, analytics provides clarity and helps explain causation and data relationships. A more structured approach to teaching healthcare analytics to students, leveraging the pandemic and the rich dataset that has been developed, offers a ready-made case study from which to learn and inform disaster planning and preparedness.

The pandemic has strained the healthcare and public health systems, highlighting the importance of preparedness and response. Researchers and practitioners must learn from this crisis to better prepare our processes for future outbreaks and emergencies. By leveraging healthcare analytics and disaster preparedness, we can improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and enhance public health resilience.

Weight: 570g
Dimension: 163 x 242 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032068459