With stunning swiftness, COVID-19 knocked America’s healthcare delivery system to its knees.
A month into the crisis, normal hospital operations are in upheaval. Avoiding in-person care has become the norm and the volume of admissions, surgeries and ER visits has plummeted. Overwhelming demand for ICUs, ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE) has strained delivery and supply chains to the breaking point.
The human drama has been tragic, heroic and heartwarming. Separated from loved ones, many patients are dying alone. In regions where spread is rampant, frontline clinicians work nonstop at risk of their own lives. To show their gratitude, New York City’s locked-in residents applaud, whoop and bang pots and pans outside their windows every evening at seven.
America’s fragmented, uncoordinated healthcare system has proven to be highly vulnerable to the fast-spreading contagion. The impediments to sharing data and information between systems and across regions are more frustrating and lethal than ever. Government and public health leaders are struggling to determine the availability of critical resources, and face systemic
obstacles to allocating needed resources effectively.