Hospital CEOs across the country are taking various approaches in response to COVID-19.
Here are five examples:
1. Atrium Health President and CEO Gene Woods testified July 21 before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging on behalf of Atrium's 70,000-member workforce. He appealed to the panel for continued financial support for healthcare providers during the pandemic, permanent coverage for telemedicine services and reinvestment in public health to combat COVID-19 and address racial health disparities.
2. Brian Gragnolati, president and CEO of Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System, told CNBC healthcare workers have taken new approaches to patient care that have helped reduce mortality rates and length of stays in intensive care units. Use of ventilators is one example he cited. Earlier during the national crisis, he said Atlantic would immediately put patients on ventilators if they were transferred to the ICU with COVID-19-related severe respiratory challenges. But he told CNBC medical workers realized putting these patents on their stomachs — and using "high concentration of oxygen" through CPAP and BiPAP machines — was the better care approach.
3. Stephen Klasko, MD, president and CEO of Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health joined forces with a venture capital leader and a tech writer to write a book calling for a revolution in healthcare delivery. The book, UnHealthcare: A Manifesto for Health Assurance, advocates for a system based on a data-forward and consumer-centric model. Dr. Klasko said this is especially needed now as "COVID-19 hit hardest families of color" and "forced doctors to take care of people at home through technology."
4. Paul Rothman, MD, CEO of Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine and dean of the medical faculty at Johns Hopkins University, said during a June interview with The Media Line that the health system is using artificial intelligence and machine learning in its COVID-19 data platform. He said Johns Hopkins plans to incorporate additional data..
5. John Starcher, president and CEO of Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health, said the health system has used IT, such as an online chat bot/virtual triage website feature, to help patients identify COVID-19 symptoms and determine whether care is needed. He credited the 50-hospital system's supply chain team with preparing for COVID-19 early, resulting in ample personal protective equipment.