FDA: COVID-19 Put Spotlight on Digitization of Healthcare, and Importance of Data, Communication and Collaboration
This week’s virtual Consumer Electronics Show consisted of many brief, yet insightful discussions with key leaders in the healthcare and medtech space. During a session with Lygeia Riccardi, advisor and chief transformation officer at Carium, Amy Abernethy, principal deputy commissioner at FDA, shared some thoughts on her lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic last year and moving forward. The following are highlights from the points Abernethy raised.
Lessons Learned from the Pandemic
- Importance around the digitization of healthcare and pairing telemedicine with other digital health solutions such as remote sensors and remote monitoring, along with patient empowerment to track health and communicate it back to the doctor via telehealth solutions.
- Data: “Not only was data very important to how we managed the pandemic, but man was it hard to actually bring data sets together, aggregate information and make decisions at scale. We got better at it over the early months in the pandemic,” said Abernathy. “We learned the importance of data interoperability, data aggregation and the ability to use data.”
- Innovation in real time and the importance of learning from its necessity during the pandemic and how it must persevere in the future.
- Collaboration: In order to accelerate innovation, partners need to come together so they can build off their strengths
- Communication: Keeping patients and consumers top of mind and interacting with them often, especially as information evolves over time.
2021 Goals
- “I hope that we’ve learned how to learn,” said Abernathy. “To me, that seems to be a fundamental element of the pandemic and feels very important to me going forward.”
- Continue to innovate in healthcare by bringing partners together not just in healthcare but also in the tech industry, government and other commercial entities.
Related Articles
-
The FDA has granted several exemptions to its Medical Device Reporting requirements related to events identified in certain real-world data sources, such as medical device registries.
-
The omicron variant of the coronavirus has made clear that the impact of the pandemic is far from over, particularly for health systems and hospitals. The ongoing need to limit close contact between providers and patients means technology will continue…
-
Effective February 7, the agency will conduct inspections across all commodities, as well as mission-critical foreign and domestic inspections.
-
“We are excited to combine Bomi’s talent, expertise and capabilities with UPS Healthcare—together, we will provide unmatched solutions to our customers, powered by UPS’s integrated, global smart logistics network.”
About The Author
Maria Fontanazza
Editor-in-Chief
Maria Fontanazza has more than 15 years of experience in journalism, marketing and communications. She was previously marketing communications manager and market research manager at Secant Medical, Inc., a manufacturer of biomedical textiles and advanced biomaterials. Fontanazza also served as an editor at MD+DI and has authored articles that have appeared in domestic and international industry publications. Fontanazza has a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications with a concentration in New Media and Visual Design, and a Minor in Fine Arts, from St. Michael’s College in Colchester, VT. Follow her industry insights on Twitter at @MariaFontanazza. Contact Maria