ASHHRA eNews Pulse

American Hospital Association
Any way you cut it, this has been a very tough few weeks in our country. We have witnessed a colorful tapestry of Americans voicing loud opposition to the systemic injustices and institutional racism. We’re also seeing centuries’ worth of wounds being opened and spilling into our streets — and tragically into our emergency departments. As health care professionals, we see the injustice. Because in the end it falls on us as a field to mend the broken bodies and console the grief-stricken mothers. It also falls on us to try and fix the pain and physical trauma. I urge all of us to see how we can also help fix the trauma it’s causing in our communities and in our hearts and minds.

As confirmed COVID-19 cases top 1.8 million in the U.S. and the pandemic batters our nation’s health care system and economy, data are starting to retell an all-too-familiar story: Black Americans are disproportionately affected. As health researchers, government officials and philanthropists sound the alarm and mount a response, they admit that COVID-19 racial health disparities were to be expected.

Becker's Hospital Review
Health IT leaders have identified several emerging technologies that will have the greatest effect on clinical care, hospital operations and health system costs, including augmented reality, artificial intelligence-enabled technology, precision medicine and virtual care support. Here, 10 hospital and health system executives and leaders outline technology that their health systems aren't currently using that they think will be game-changing in the future.

Among health care employers impacted by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), hospitals and residential facilities were more likely than medical practices and home care providers to have excluded employees from taking paid leave offered by the law, according to a survey of 107 health care employers by law firm Jackson Lewis.

Coronavirus has had a serious impact on mental health across the U.S., as 45% of American adults report increased anxiety and depression, according to Kaiser Family Foundation data. For frontline workers, the impact of this disease on mental health can be brutal.

Nearly 600 front-line health care workers appear to have died of COVID-19, according to Lost on the Frontline, a project launched by The Guardian and Kaiser Health News that aims to count, verify and memorialize every health care worker who dies during the pandemic.

Doctors, nurses and first responders share their first-person accounts as they grapple with the enormity of what they’ve witnessed during the pandemic’s first wave.

American Hospital Association

The Food and Drug Administration recently created an online compendium page of COVID-19 resources for health care professionals. FDA has indicated it will regularly update the page, which provides useful information on several issues, including emergency use authorizations, personal protective equipment and medical products, including investigational drugs and fraudulent devices.