The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things about the world. Healthcare is no exception. At the start of the pandemic, many predictions were made about how the virus might impact this profession. Now, more than 10 months into COVID-19 (officially), there are plenty of lessons that we’ve learned. And those lessons give us invaluable insights into the future of healthcare and medicine as a whole.
Telehealth is valuable.
One thing that became very clear early on in the crisis is how valuable telehealth and telemedicine are. The pandemic delayed non-emergency care for millions of individuals as hospital wings filled up with COVID patients. Telehealth was the answer for many of those people, allowing them to receive care virtually without even leaving home. It’s safe to say that telemedicine will remain as part of the care model for many patients, serving as a valuable precursor to in-person appointments.
Collaboration is better than competition.
Various elements in the government and the private sector came together to combat COVID-19, from governmental bodies like the Department of Health and Human Services to biotech companies, research laboratories, and non-profits. This collaboration allowed the country to share resources where needed and rapidly ramp up testing capacity and coordinate treatment and vaccination research. COVID-19 demonstrated clearly that responding to a crisis of this scale requires collaboration, not competition.
We must fix inequities in healthcare.
COVID-19 laid bare what many already knew: That healthcare is, unfortunately, not created equal for everyone. African Americans and Latino people, for example, are three times as likely as Caucasians to become infected with COVID-19, and almost twice as likely to die from it. The socioeconomic inequalities inherent in our country extend to the healthcare profession, and we must do all that we can to change that.
We need to be better prepared for epidemics and pandemics.
Anyone watching the news in those early months of the pandemic could see plainly that the healthcare system wasn’t properly prepared for a situation of this scale. COVID-19 has taught us that we must be better prepared for outbreaks — that means ensuring access to resources, fostering collaboration between healthcare institutions and other private-sector entities, and funding healthcare infrastructure at the legislative level.
If there’s any good to be found in the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s this: We can no longer ignore certain problems in the healthcare field. And in the same way that the pandemic has changed many things about daily life, it’s safe to say the world of health and medicine will grow and adjust, too.
Quality Care Starts with Great Staff
Whether your facility is on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 or not, caring for your patients properly starts with a great medical staff. If you’re looking to staff your facility with the very best, contact BOS Medical.
