Bank valuable lessons from the coronavirus pandemic to navigate such turbulent times.

Even though the coronavirus pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for healthcare providers, it has also unleashed valuable lessons to help us navigate through turbulent times such as these. What remains imperative to note is that we can deploy these understandings to develop better care transitions for our patients and have robust contingency plans to combat any other public health emergency in the future.

Focus on Effective Communications

Sharing clear, concise, and valuable information remains pivotal to effective communication. Unclear information raises fears and anxiety, which in turn leads to conflicts in providing guidance. The COVID-19 pandemic has made us realize that establishing a clear message and sharing it across the entire organization remains the top priority for delivering efficient care.

Make Informed Decisions

There is an increased tendency to make hasty decisions during a public health emergency period. Organizations, when under fire, tend to move far faster than they usually do, often overlooking the basics. The advice is not to jump to conclusions without proper calculations. Once you have the basics intact, you are in a better position to make informed decisions. This requires intelligently deploying data to make meaningful decisions and formulate more effective plans. The importance of data has become even more paramount for successful care transitions during the current pandemic, navigating through which requires live, real-time data, including COVID-19 patient data and risks, ventilator counts, ICU rates, and so forth. This data assists in making decisions related to moving equipment, rendering support, and ensuring safer and more comfortable care transitions.

Knock Down Silos

Collaboration has never been so important in healthcare. Information sharing in real-time, open communication channels, and transparent processes for connecting and collaborating have emerged as critical components of care delivery. This, then, helps better address hotspots when they rise, prepare for transitions, and offer more seamless transfers. What we need to do is identify silos and knock them down to eliminate inefficiencies and ensure smoother care transitions.

Focus on Ethics and Equity

Digital health has emerged as the ultimate solution for delivering care during the COVID-19 crisis. AI-enabled tools multiply the power of digital technologies and offer unparalleled opportunities to address the social determinants of health. What then remains important is to strike a balance between ethics and equity. Healthcare must be accessible to all, and telemedicine is honoring this promise. Providers must also be aware of their ethical responsibilities to foster care transition.

Devise a Disaster Management Plan

Contingency planning has never been this important. It has become evident during this crisis that delivering the most effective response to disasters such as the coronavirus pandemic must remain a top priority of healthcare organizations. An effective preparedness plan must cover staffing, support, and supplies to be readily available when the need arises. It further dictates that all stakeholders collaborate and work together to be active and efficient.

The inherent lesson learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is to be responsive and productive in addressing the issue, rather than being overwhelmed or sidetracked by what should have been previously done. Taking these lessons into account will enable healthcare systems to provide better care for patients while being prepared to face any challenges that may lie ahead.