Transforming Public Health Data Systems to Advance the Population's Health.

Policy Points Accurate and reliable data systems are critical for delivering the essential services and foundational capabilities of public health for a 21st -century public health infrastructure. Chronic underfunding, workforce shortages, and operational silos limit the effectiveness of America's public health data systems, with the country's anemic response to COVID-19 highlighting the results of long-standing infrastructure gaps. As the public health sector begins an unprecedented data modernization effort, scholars and policymakers should ensure ongoing reforms are aligned with the five components of an ideal public health data system: outcomes and equity oriented, actionable, interoperable, collaborative, and grounded in a robust public health system.

Hospital-at-Home: Multistakeholder Considerations for Program Dissemination and Scale.

Policy Points Hospital-at-Home (HaH) is a home-based alternative for acute care that has expanded significantly under COVID-19 regulatory flexibilities. The post-pandemic policy agenda for HaH will require consideration of multistakeholder perspectives, including patient, caregiver, provider, clinical operations, technology, equity, legal, quality, and payer. Key policy challenges include reaching a consensus on program standards, clarifying caregivers' issues, creating sustainable reimbursement mechanisms, and mitigating potential equity concerns. Key policy prescriptions include creating a national surveillance system for quality and safety, clarifying legal standards for care in the home, and deploying payment reforms through value-based models.

Applying Lessons from COVID-19 to Cost Centers across the Phases of Surgical Care.

The financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly significant in surgical specialties, with an estimated loss of $22 billion due to deferrals and cancelations of procedures. Evidence suggests that alternative payment models may have reduced the financial impact of COVID-19 for some providers; however, representation of plastic surgery in these models has historically been limited. It is critical for plastic surgeons to understand cost drivers throughout the surgical care episode to design strategies to reduce costs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this perspective, we use the American College of Surgeons Five Phases of Surgical Care framework to examine inflationary spending pressures at each stage of the surgical continuum of care. We then highlight cost-containment strategies relevant to plastic and reconstructive surgery within these stages, including those developed before the COVID-19 pandemic, such as bundled payment models and utilization of ambulatory surgery centers, and others expanded during the pandemic, including further use of telemedicine for pre and postoperative visits and expansion of enhanced recovery after surgery pathways and home-based rehabilitation for breast reconstruction. Using innovations from the COVID-19 pandemic can help plastic surgeons further innovate to decrease costs and improve outcomes for patients.