COVID-19 Report Highlights Challenges and Implications for Digital Health

Whether it was rolling out telehealth initiatives in the spring of 2020 or providing data support to COVID-19 vaccination efforts in the spring of 2021, digital health care executives and their teams have worked behind the scenes for more than a year to ease the burdens that COVID-19 has placed on their health care organizations. A report based on two surveys conducted by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) chronicles digital health’s challenges and contributions in 2020 with insights for 2021.

The report, which is free and available to the public, was published online one year after COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic globally and a national emergency in the United States.

“With each phase of the pandemic, our members and their teams have turned challenges into opportunities to learn and improve,” says CHIME President and CEO Russell P. Branzell. “The surveys show how quickly their organizations adapted and innovated using technology to address COVID issues. Their responses shed light on the human side, too, including concerns about burnout and wanting to help their team members adjust to remote work.”

CHIME surveyed members in the spring and fall of 2020 using a qualitative and quantitative questionnaire. A total of 348 responses were collected and analyzed: 202 in the spring and 146 in the fall. The report, which combines text, graphics, and selected comments from respondents, includes the following:

• reopening strategies;
• dual systems of care to serve COVID and non-COVID patients;
• telehealth usage, with changes over time;
• telehealth successes and problems;
• the financial impact of the pandemic;
• budgeting trends; and
• expected technology investments in 2021.

The report, titled “A Year in Review: COVID-19 Impact – Challenges and Implications for Digital Health,” can be accessed through CHIME’s website at https://chimecentral.org/mediaposts/year-in-review-covid-19-impact-challenges-and-implications-for-digital-health.

Source: College of Healthcare Information Management Executive