Reviewing the leadership perspective for managing healthcare in the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic poses substantial leadership and governance challenges and opportunities for organizations. This chapter intends to better understand the role of public leadership during the crisis and calls for public health professionals to play a more active role in crisis management. This chapter is a thoughtful reflection on how executives and boards respond to crises. This chapter focuses on three critical activities needed to understand public officials' involvement in the current crisis: values and purpose, rapid decision-making, and thinking outside the box. Understanding public leadership as a key to crisis management, particularly important when developing policy solutions to public health crises. This chapter broadens our understanding of human resource management's roles in crisis response and recovery. As a result of this, we can better identify the shifting leadership roles necessary for crisis management and learn about potential public health issues in the future. © 2023, IGI Global.

ETC Model: How One Small Dialysis Organization Is Navigating Uncharted Policy Waters.

The ETC model proposes to increase access to home dialysis and transplant for patients with ESRD. Implementation of this model is happening while many dialysis organizations are still suffering the far-reaching effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In addition, the model has the potential to negatively affect small and independent dialysis organizations disproportionately. It incentivizes home dialysis over transplant and promotes development of new home dialysis programs, rewards achievement over improvement, and places an excessive burden on small and independent dialysis organizations. Advantages of the program include the focus on self-care as an acceptable alternative to home dialysis for some patients and the potential for some organizations to make improvements in care with increased reimbursements. The authors hope that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will address many of these concerns in updated rulemaking and guidance.

CLINICAL PROFILE AND THE OUTCOME OF COVID-19 IN PATIENTS WITH HEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCY: A SINGLE CENTRE EXPERIENCE

Objective: In the present study, we are reporting the clinical profile;and outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with hematological malignancy at tertiary care hospitals. Methods: Data from laboratory-confirmed 40 COVID-19 patients diagnosed between January 1, 2021 and July 31, 2021, were analyzed retrospectively. All COVID-19 patients with hematological malignancy (n=40) were included in the study. Results: In the present study, a total of 40 patients were included. Of 40, 25 (62.5%) were males, and 15 (37.5%) were females. The median age in this study was 43 years (Range, 8–70). Of these 40 patients, acute myeloid leukemia was the most common malignancy 11 (27.5%), followed by acute lymphoblastic leukemia 9 (22.5%) than non-Hodgkin lymphoma 5 (12.5%), plasma cell dyscrasia 4 (10%), chronic myeloid leukemia 4 (10%), chronic lymphocytic leukemia 3 (7.5%), acute promyelocytic leukemia 2 (5%), chronic myelomonocytic leukemia 2 (5%). Mean hemoglobin was (8.04 g/dl), white blood cell count was (10.14×109/l), platelet count was (77.7×109/l) creatinine was (0.86 mg/dl), bilirubin was (1.24 mg/dl). The overall case-fatality rate was 8 (22.5%). Conclusion: Patients with hematological malignancy are immunocompromised, and our study reveals that there is an increased case fatality rate among these patients. Hence, physicians should be aggressive in the management of COVID-19 patients with hematological malignancy.

Recurrent acute otitis media: a survey of current management in England.

OBJECTIVE: Recurrent acute otitis media is common in children. The preferred treatment measures for recurrent acute otitis media have a mixed evidence base. This study sought to assess baseline practice across ENT departments in England. METHODS: A national telephone survey of healthcare staff was conducted. Every ENT centre in England was contacted. A telephone script was used to ask about antibiotic and grommet use and duration in recurrent acute otitis media cases. RESULTS: Ninety-six centres (74 per cent) provided complete information. Recurrent acute otitis media treatment across England by ENT departments varied. The antibiotic first- and second-line prophylaxis offered varies, with trimethoprim used in 33 centres and 29 centres not offering any antibiotics. The timing or choice about when to use grommets also varies, but 87 centres (91 per cent) offer grommet surgery at one stage. CONCLUSION: The treatments received by children in England for recurrent acute otitis media vary by centre; collaborative research in this area is advised.

6G Ecosystem: Current Status and Future Perspective

Next-generation of the cellular network will attempt to overcome the limitations of the current Fifth Generation (5G) networks and equip itself to address the challenges which become obvious in the future. Currently, academia and industry have focused their attention on the Sixth Generation (6G) network, which is anticipated to be the next big game-changer in the telecom industry. The outbreak of COVID’19 has made the whole world to opt for virtual meetings, live video interactions ranging from healthcare, business to education. However, we miss an immersive experience due to the lack of supporting technology. Experts have anticipated that starting from the post-pandemic age, the performance requirements of technology for virtual and real-time communication, the rise of several verticals such as industrial automation, robotics, and autonomous driving will increase tremendously, and will skyrocket during the next decade. In this manuscript, we study the latest perspectives and future megatrends that are most likely to drive 6G. Initially, we describe the instances that lead us to the vision of 6G. Later, we narrate some of the use cases and the KPIs essential to meet their performance requirement. Further, we highlight the key requirements of 6G based on contemporary research such as UN sustainability goals, business model, edge intelligence, digital divide, and the trends in machine learning for 6G. CCBYNCND

Global economy and consumerism: An analysis

Global economy because of COVID-19 has tanked to historical lows. It is not the first time in the world history that global community is bracing for a pandemic. COVID-19 started in Wuhan, the global epicentre of both-the virus as well as the economic bustle and flurry. After the few days of proliferation of the virus, busy streets of Wuhan were back to deserted scenes. China is currently the production house of the world. The dangers to the health sector of the countries is definitely under tremendous pressure but more worryingly, it is threatening world economy into recession. US Federal Reserve has gone for an emergency rate-cut of half percentage point. This is the biggest since 2008 financial crises. But the step seems more a knee-jerk reaction out of compulsion rather than a mature policy decision.

The negative impact of wearing personal protective equipment on communication during coronavirus disease 2019.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 personal protective equipment has been reported to affect communication in healthcare settings. This study sought to identify those challenges experimentally. METHOD: Bamford-Kowal-Bench speech discrimination in noise performance of healthcare workers was tested under simulated background noise conditions from a variety of hospital environments. Candidates were assessed for ability to interpret speech with and without personal protective equipment, with both normal speech and raised voice. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in speech discrimination scores between normal and personal protective equipment wearing subjects in operating theatre simulated background noise levels (70 dB). CONCLUSION: Wearing personal protective equipment can impact communication in healthcare environments. Efforts should be made to remind staff about this burden and to seek alternative communication paradigms, particularly in operating theatre environments.