Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Infectious Disease Experts Challenge Tech World's Optimism About Tracking Cases
Stat: 5 Burning Questions About Tech Efforts To Track Covid-19 Case
The pitch from technology companies goes something like this: We can tap phone data to track Covid-19 infections in U.S. communities and swiftly warn people about potential exposure, all without ever compromising anyone’s privacy. Apple and Google turned heads a few days ago when they announced a joint effort to bolster this public health service — a task known as contact tracing — by building software into smartphones that relies on Bluetooth technology to track users’ proximity to one another. Facebook is participating in a similar effort led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While their brands give them instant credibility in the business world, infectious disease experts aren’t convinced the technology offers a tidy solution to such a complicated public health problem. (Ross, 4/15)
Stateline: Hospital Hackers Seize Upon Coronavirus Pandemic
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, staffers at the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District in Illinois got an unwelcome surprise when they arrived at work one morning last month: Cybercriminals had hijacked their computer network and were holding it hostage. The hackers were demanding a ransom to restore the system. “Our website was pretty much down for three entire days, and it was the primary mode of communicating with the public about COVID-19,” deputy administrator Awais Vaid recalled. “The only good thing was that just a few months before, we had put our electronic medical records and our email on the cloud, so they were not affected.” (Bergal, 4/13)
The Wall Street Journal: Teladoc’s Remote Doctor Visits Surge In Coronavirus Crisis
Teladoc Health Inc. said its remote medical appointments have more than doubled in number since early March, a sign the coronavirus pandemic is remaking how doctors take care of patients. Teladoc said it is conducting more than 20,000 remote medical appointments a day, more than twice the average daily volume of visits during the first week in March. The Purchase, N.Y., company hosted 1.8 million visits in the first quarter, up from 1.06 million visits a year earlier. (Krouse, 4/14)
