SMART HEALTH COMMUNITIES From sick care to health care

Health care systems around the world are now facing unprecedented challenges due to various factors including the tsunami of ageing populations, unhealthy lifestyles and diets as well as the recurrent and new emergence of infectious diseases such as flu and COVID-19. Government’s health policies need to be revisited in an attempt to put extra efforts and resources in primary care and public health. Despite the Alma-Ata Declaration of the international primary health care (PHC) conference signed in 1978, PHC models nowadays need to shift the paradigm from ‘sick care’ to ‘health care’ with the innovative model of ‘Smart Health Communities' (SHC). SHC address various stakeholders involved in enhancing the health of the citizens in the localities or cities. This initiative is within the domain of ‘Smart Cities’ with the adoption of ‘Internet of Things’ to enhance the collection of essential health data about the health status of patients and citizens in the community. SHCs are especially important in primary and community care. By means of case studies of Hong Kong and Australia, the values and impacts of using digital health and networked technologies such as wearables, electronic health record systems to facilitate SHC are highlighted to address the factors for success and the difficulties encountered. These experiences gained from Asia-Pacific regions are deemed to be the learning points for other cities to reflect about their health care systems especially in community care level so as to innovate and to further shift their focus from sick care to health care. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Ben Y.F. Fong and Martin C.S. Wong;individual chapters, the contributors.

Primary and secondary data analysis on the care situation of patients with venous thrombosis and cancer in Bavaria

Introduction: Cancer patients (pts) have a high risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) depending on the cancer type and risk factors. DVT-prophylaxis and anticoagulant therapy in cancer pts are challenging and often require a multidisciplinary diagnostic and treatment approach. Cancer associated thrombosis is the second leading cause of death in cancer pts. Patients' awareness of a potential DVT risk, relevant symptoms and the need for treatment compliance are important for optimal treatment. The BEQUEST study investigates, to what degree cancer pts are aware of their DVT-risk, who informs them, by whom and by what means DVT has been diagnosed/treated and if regional difference exist in Bavaria. Methods: The study follows a mixed methods design (quantitative and qualitative methods). Secondary claims data (KVB/ZI und AOK Bayern) will be used to determine treatment patterns, guideline adherence and associations between DVT treatment and outcomes. Through two pilot tested surveys (office-based physicians and pts) guideline acceptance, optimization potentials in multidisciplinary diagnostic/treatment, access to care facilities, awareness of side effects of cancer treatment, risk factors and DVT symptoms will be examined. Secondary data analyses and the patient survey will include pts of age > 18 with an active cancer (ICD- 10-GM: C00-99) diagnosis and an incident DVT (I.80). Results: In 2016-2018 approximately 38.000 pts suffered from cancer and an incident DVT in Bavaria. The main underlying diseases are neoplasms of breast, prostate, without specific localization and of gastrointestinal tract. Secondary data analyses are ongoing and are expected to be finalized end of June 2021. Even though patient survey was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic it is currently online and will be analyzed by the time of the DGHO annual meeting. The physicians' survey is postponed because of the involvement of office based physicians in the Covid-19 vaccination campaign. Conclusions: The results will show whether medical care in urban compared to rural areas is different and whether it correlates with outcomes of cancer pts with DVT. The patient survey will indicate the accessibility to facilities, if pts are aware of risks/side effects of their cancer disease and which information source they use. The physician survey will highlight whether there are improvement suggestions of the reimbursement structure and possibilities to optimize the treatment of cancer pts with DVT.

Accounting at your service: university survival recovery and revolution from COVID-19

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the roles of accounting for university survival, recovery and revolution from the COVID-19 pandemic. It constructively critiques the use of compliance and cost-centric accounting to inform crisis response and proposes roles for accounting to better serve decision-making in a crisis. Design/methodology/approach This paper discusses limitations about how accounting information was used in a university's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper describes potential roles for accounting across crisis phases. These proposals recognise requirements arising from the university's regulatory environment and apply concepts from intellectual capital accounting and service-dominant logic. Findings This paper proposes that in the survival phase, accounting can mitigate rash responses by clarifying the crisis's impact and stakeholder alignment. In the recovery phase, accounting can inform resourcing decisions by balancing signals from accounting about staff expense and capital investment. In the revolution phase, accounting helps develop the business models needed to adapt to changing student needs, hybrid teaching delivery and importance of intellectual capital. Research limitations/implications The case study discusses the early stages of a university's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It does not provide a comprehensive analysis of success or failure of accounting in a crisis. The case raises directions for accounting to clarify the ambiguities in objectives and cause-and-effect relationships from the pandemic. Practical implications This paper proposes actions for accounting to support the survival, recovery and revolution of the university sector from the pandemic. The actions cover stakeholder engagement, university sector governance and strategic planning. Originality/value This paper proposes a lifecycle of accounting roles at different stages of the COVID-19 response that reflects requirements from the university's regulatory environment and draws on intellectual capital and service-dominant logic literature.

COVID-19 and sustainability reporting: what are the roles of reporting frameworks in a crisis?

Purpose This paper aims to commentate on the roles of sustainability reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic. It evaluates the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) framework, designed as a guide for best-practice in sustainability reporting, for its applicability to cover COVID-19 issues and, more generally, issues arising in crisis conditions. Design/methodology/approach The GRI's COVID-19 communications and the GRI framework are reviewed using three common theories of reporting, namely, institutional, stakeholder and legitimacy theory. For each theory, the authors contrast expectations under business-as-usual conditions against crisis conditions to identify gaps and avenues to guide COVID-19 responses. Findings This commentary opines the GRI framework risks perpetuating incremental change towards the "new normal", rather than motivating the urgent responses needed in a crisis. The GRI can play a significant normative role to guide immediate and short-term best practice in COVID-19 reporting. Findings motivate the need to report for vulnerable rather than powerful stakeholders and to recognise and celebrate proactive change. Originality/value This paper commentates on the suitability of a major sustainability reporting framework and its role in improving responses to the current COVID-19 crisis. Findings propose challenges to the GRI and GRI framework to motivate urgent responses and communication for the pandemic.

Preserving transferable skills in the accounting curriculum during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a first-hand, critical reflection on the rapid redesign of a New Zealand university accounting course in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors reflect on their experience of redesigning a course for online delivery, while preserving its focus on transferable skills. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents the authors' commentary on and self-evaluation of the teaching of a final year accounting paper during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings The authors provide lessons for developing transferable skills when pivoting to digital learning under extreme conditions. The authors found a multi-modal approach to course delivery that helped facilitate the development of transferable skills and self-reflection journals were particularly useful for motivating students in an online teaching environment. The authors also identified the efficacy of designing and evaluating online course delivery using a "transferable skills first" template to identify gaps in learning activities and assessments. Originality/value The pressures of rapidly pivoting to digital learning threatened the authors' ability to maintain a focus on transferable skills. The authors provide a design method for maintaining and developing transferable skills in a digital environment using a "transferable-skills first" teaching philosophy.

Patterns of COVID-19 on computed tomography imaging.

PURPOSE: As the designated tertiary referral centre for infectious diseases in Hong Kong, our hospital received the city's first group of patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Herein, we studied the earliest patients admitted to our centre in order to clarify the typical radiological findings, particularly computed tomography (CT) findings, associated with COVID-19. METHODS: From 22 January 2020 to 29 February 2020, 19 patients with confirmed COVID-19 underwent high-resolution or conventional CT scans of the thorax in our centre. The CT imaging findings of these patients with confirmed COVID-19 in Hong Kong were reviewed in this study. RESULTS: Ground-glass opacities (GGO) with peripheral subpleural distribution were found in all patients (100%). No specific zonal predominance was observed. All lobes were involved in 16 (84.2%) patients, focal subsegmental consolidations were observed in 14 (73.7%) patients, and interlobular septal thickening was present in 12 (63.2%) patients. No mediastinal lymph node enlargement, centrilobular nodule, or pleural effusion was detected in any of the patients. Other imaging features present in several patients include bronchial dilatation, bronchial wall thickening, and crazy-paving patterns. CONCLUSIONS: Peripheral subpleural GGO without zonal predominance in the absence of centrilobular nodule, pleural effusion, and lymph node enlargement were consistent findings in patients with confirmed COVID-19. The observed radiological patterns on CT scans can help identify COVID-19 and assess affected patients in the context of the ongoing outbreak.