Optimizing Medical Healthcare Services Using Big Data Analytics

Big data is a very large size of datasets which come from many different sources and are in a wide variety of forms. Due to its enormous potential, big data has gained popularity in recent years. Big data enables us to investigate and reinvent numerous fields, including the healthcare industry, education, and others. Big data specifically in the healthcare sector comes from a variety of sources, including patient medical information, hospital records, findings from physical exams, and the outcomes of medical devices. Covid19 recently, one of the most neglected areas to concentrate on has come under scrutiny due to the pandemic: healthcare management. Patient duration of stay in a hospital is one crucial statistic to monitor and forecast if one wishes to increase the effectiveness of healthcare management in a hospital, even if there are many use cases for data science in healthcare management. At the time of admission, this metric aids hospitals in identifying patients who are at high Length of Stay namely LS risk (patients who will stay longer). Once identified, patients at high risk for LS can have their treatment plans improved to reduce LS and reduce the risk of infection in staff or visitors. Additionally, prior awareness of LS might help with planning logistics like room and bed allotment. The aim of the suggested system is to precisely anticipate the length of stay for each patient on an individual basis so that hospitals can use this knowledge for better functioning and resource allocation using data analytics. This would contribute to improving treatments and services. © 2023 IEEE.

Performance reporting in the healthcare sector: evidence from Italian healthcare organisations

PurposeThe present research aims to understand the performance disclosure levels provided by Italian healthcare organisations (HCOs). The authors conducted this study to assess the transparency of HCOs' performance reporting processes by examining the amount and the type of information disclosed in Annual Performance Reports (APRs).Design/methodology/approachThe present study uses a qualitative research methodology based on manual content analysis. The APRs of a sample of 171 Italian public HCOs were analysed.FindingsResults evidence that the APRs provide a sufficient level of disclosure of performance information, putting high attention on the epidemiological conditions;however, the APRs do not present a strong information function for stakeholders' decision-making purposes. The Italian HCOs APRs are not easily understandable because the APRs are not very concise and present information mainly in discursive terms with limited graphic support.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first research investigating both the extent and type of performance information reported by Italian HCOs in the APRs, considering the particular contextual conditions caused by the most significant challenge the healthcare (HC) sector has faced in recent years: the epidemiological crisis of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The study also explores whether APRs are currently used by HCOs as a merely regulatory requirement or as an information tool for accountability and decision-making purposes.

Perils of the Commercialised Private Healthcare Sector for Patients: Analysis of Patients' Experiences from COVID-19 Pandemic in Maharashtra, India

Although the ramifications of a weakly regulated, commercialised private sector have always been prevalent, the COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed its magnitude and implications for patients in India. Although much is being studied about the health system's response to the pandemic, the recipient of the system, that is, the patient seems to be less attended in analysis. This article analyses patients' experiences while seeking healthcare from the private sector in the context of state-imposed regulations over them during the pandemic. A qualitative study was conducted in Maharashtra, India and 30 in-depth interviews of patients who faced difficulties in availing treatment from private hospitals during the pandemic were conducted using purposive sampling. The study reveals the myriad of catastrophic challenges patients faced, their vulnerability and helplessness with private hospitals during the pandemic. It demonstrates the character of ruthless privatisation that operates in health care with rampant overcharging and the failure of regulation of the private sector during the crisis. The study concludes by pointing out the need for state intervention in the regulation of the private sector and emphasises the need to strengthen the public health system and place effective accountability mechanisms with the legal instrument to safeguard people's interests from corporate privatisation. © 2023 SAGE Publications.

Perception of Frontline Social Workers' Role in Healthcare Sector Combating COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu: A Phenomenological Study.

COVID-19 emerged as a global pandemic of the twenty-first century. It has created a huge burden on society. More specifically, it has turned into one of the health risks that threaten to undermine societal order in general. The global effort to save humanity from this public health crisis is heavily reliant on professional social workers. According to the study's qualitative findings and perspectives on social workers' experiences in the health sector, the COVID-19 response is addressed. This study explores the function and difficulties faced by frontline social workers through an empirical phenomenological approach. Primary data for this study was gathered from 20 social workers from the leading healthcare institutions in Tamil Nadu using purposive and snowball sampling. The study focuses on three key conclusions, including the requirement for interdisciplinary expertise to address the multifaceted effects of pandemics, perceived difficulties in pandemic practice, and obstacles in service provision. The report offers recommendations for advancing social work initiatives as a conclusion. It also explains how modern social work may benefit healthcare facilities better in the fight against the pandemic.

Preparing for compounding crises: Staff shortages and cyber-attack vulnerability in the era of COVID-19

In 2020, while the USA was experiencing suc-cessive waves of COVID-19, Universal Health Services experienced a major cyber attack that crippled electronic systems in over 200 hospitals, including a major academic medical centre that was playing a key regional role in COVID-19 care and clinical trials. This paper discusses the impact of the attack on clinical operations, infor-matics, research and teaching, contextualising the case study within more wide-scale trends driving the rise in cyber attacks on health-care systems. The compounding relationships between COVID-19, healthcare workforce depletion and cyber-security vulnerabilities form the framework of the discussion and action plan. Commitments to institutional best prac-tices, large-scale investments in infrastructure, and above all increasing support for the crit-ical human actors carrying out the work, are urgently needed to secure the healthcare system against these destabilising threats. Within this context, this paper argues that information security in the healthcare sector must be reimagined and integrated with greater support for the needs of frontline healthcare workers. © Henry Stewart Publications, 1749–9216.

The Aspects of Supply Chain Risk Management in the Healthcare Industry

The healthcare supply chain is a complex and multifaceted entity. A poorly functioning healthcare supply chain can directly affect patient health and facility performance. The task of this paper is to examine the most significant aspects of supply chain risk management in the healthcare industry. The review was carried out by analyzing the literature for keywords in major databases. Based on the authors' literature research, the most important factors related to the supply chain are presented. In addition to supply chain risk assessment, other factors closely related to the supply chain are considered. Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the topic of supply chain risk management has received much more attention from scientists and researchers. Before, the field had not been the subject of much research activity. © 2023, Success Culture Press. All rights reserved.

Covid-19 in America: Global supply chain reconsidered.

This research asks: To what extent has America's reliance on the global supply network aggravated the country's public health and economic crisis; and how did the American government respond to supply chain weaknesses during the early years of the Covid-19 pandemic? This study first assesses important conceptual considerations that explain the expansion of global value chains and the growth of trade interdependencies among nations. Next, an analytical case study observes (1) America's supply chain vulnerability through three major waves of infection, (2) the difficulty to mend weaknesses in the supply linkages once the novel coronavirus spread globally and (3) American government's failures to both anticipate and respond to supply shortages, especially in the health sector. Trump administration's policies failed to ensure a reliable supply of simple personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare professionals and hospitals throughout the first three waves of infection. Moreover, state and federal governments' substantial reliance on large manufacturers who have established procurement relationship with government led to continuous nationwide supply shortages throughout 2020. The federal government's inability to engage small and medium manufacturers in the production of critical supplies of PPE and diagnostic tests deepened and prolonged the devastating impacts of the pandemic. Our case study demonstrates that the American government needs to rethink the country's substantial reliance on the global supply chain, and the specific requirements to boost domestic manufacturing capacity. The revitalisation of America's manufacturing ability and the local supply networks will boost the productive power of the nation, strengthen resiliency, reduce vulnerability in disruptive times and prepare the nation for future crises.

Value Creation Through Public–Private Partnerships in the Healthcare Sector: A Managerial Analysis of Italian Healthcare Organizations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The recent pandemic has highlighted the weaknesses and the strengths of the Italian Healthcare System, revealing the importance of a cooperative behavior among involved actors. The paper shows how Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs) may contribute to pursue the strategic objectives aimed at correctly replying to the healthcare needs. In more details, the paper highlights the role of PPPs in valorizing the interdependencies existing among actors and reveals the possibility of adopting PPPs as effective tools to manage appropriate and effective healthcare services. At this aim the paper shortly analyzes the reply of the Italian Healthcare System to the pandemic and summarizes its political-institutional assets and its composition and articulation in several levels of responsibilities and various types of Organizations. Then it focuses on the activities conducted by the Scientific Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare Institute (so-called IRCCS) to face the COVID-19 pandemic. IRCCS are Healthcare Organizations which operate in the business of translational research and healthcare excellence services. The paper highlights the capacity of IRCCS of exploiting relationships and building PPPs. The analysis of the case study of Istituto Romagnolo per lo Studio dei Tumori better elucidates the possibility of value creation through PPPs in the Healthcare Sector. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Using QR Codes as a Form of eHealth to Promote Health Among Women in a Pandemic: Cross-sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: QR codes have played an integral role during the pandemic in many sectors, but their use has been limited in the health care sector, especially by patients. Although some authors have stated that developing specific content for women on how to cope with health problems could be an effective way to prevent problems, especially during pandemics, there is little research regarding the use of QR codes to promote health during a pandemic, and even fewer studies are focused on women. Moreover, although the importance of assessing these interventions from the users' perspective has been stated, research carried out from this point of view is still scarce. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the usefulness of using QR codes with information to promote women's health in the context of a pandemic. We also sought to design and validate a questionnaire to assess this. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among women in the gynecology waiting rooms of a reference hospital. Exploratory factorial analysis with the split-half method and Cronbach α values was performed for questionnaire validation. Univariant and bivariant analyses were performed to analyze the data obtained. RESULTS: In total, 186 women took part in the study. Exploratory factor analysis identified 2 domains: usability and applicability in medical practice. The Cronbach α value was .81. Overall, 83.7% of the answers to the first domain and 56.4% of those to the second were favorable. Women with university education or those who had used QR codes before scored better in the usability domain, while no differences were observed in the applicability scores. CONCLUSIONS: Using QR codes in the gynecology clinics' waiting rooms can help promote women's health during a pandemic, regardless of their education level or whether they have used QR codes before. The questionnaire developed herein is a helpful tool to assess this. These findings are important for clinical practice. This research can be performed in other ambits, specialties, or countries.

Management behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of healthcare middle managers.

Background: The spread of COVID-19 has disrupted the lifestyles of the world's population. In the workplace, the pandemic has affected all sectors and has changed the way work is organized and carried out. The health sector has been severely impacted by the pandemic and has faced enormous challenges in maintaining healthcare services while providing care to those infected by the virus. At the heart of this battle, healthcare managers were key players in ensuring the orchestration of operations and the physical and mental availability of employees during the crisis. Although few studies have been conducted to identify organizational practices or leadership skills to be adopted in a crisis context, the concrete behaviors of managers have not been documented yet. Therefore, this study aims at filling this gap by studying middle managers' behaviors facing COVID-19 crisis in the healthcare sector. Methods: Using a qualitative approach, eight focus groups were conducted online during the pandemic with 37 middle managers from the healthcare community of a Quebec health establishment (Canada) from April to June 2020. Thematic analyses were conducted, and a mixed-methods approach was used to analyse the data based on Viitala's hierarchical model of management skills. Results: Based on the six managerial skills proposed in the model of Viitala, 21 specific management behaviors were identified as having been deployed by middle managers at the beginning of the pandemic. Considering that the health sector has been profoundly shaken by this health crisis, in addition to being an environment likely to experience other crises, managers need to develop practical skills in various crisis management situations. Thus, the results guide practitioners by highlighting the importance of team-oriented management behaviors (leadership, supervisory competencies), especially in a crisis context.

Toward an economy of wellbeing: The economic impact of the Welsh healthcare sector.

Population health and wellbeing is both a result, as well as a driver, of economic development and prosperity on global, European, national and sub-national (local) levels. Wales, one of the four United Kingdom (UK) nations, has shown a long-term commitment to sustainable development and achieving prosperity for all, providing a good example of both national and sub-national level, which can be useful for other European countries and regions. In this paper, the economic importance of the healthcare sector to the Welsh economy is explored. We use a large number of data sources for the UK and Welsh economy to derive an economic model for 2017. We estimate output, income, employment, value-added, and import multipliers of the healthcare sector. Results suggest that the healthcare sector has an above average contribution in four explored economic aspects of the Welsh economy (output, income, employment, value-added), according to its impact on the surrounding economic ecosystem. Also, it is below average regarding leaking through imports. The multipliers' values offer empirical evidence when deciding on alternative policy actions. Such actions can be used as a stimulus for encouraging regional development and post-COVID economic recovery. Our study refers to the Welsh healthcare sector's economic impact as a whole. Therefore, we suggest investigating the economic impact of individual healthcare providers in the future.

On the implementation of a new version of the Weibull distribution and machine learning approach to model the COVID-19 data.

Statistical methodologies have broader applications in almost every sector of life including education, hydrology, reliability, management, and healthcare sciences. Among these sectors, statistical modeling and predicting data in the healthcare sector is very crucial. In this paper, we introduce a new method, namely, a new extended exponential family to update the distributional flexibility of the existing models. Based on this approach, a new version of the Weibull model, namely, a new extended exponential Weibull model is introduced. The applicability of the new extended exponential Weibull model is shown by considering two data sets taken from the health sciences. The first data set represents the mortality rate of the patients infected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Mexico. Whereas, the second set represents the mortality rate of COVID-19 patients in Holland. Utilizing the same data sets, we carry out forecasting using three machine learning (ML) methods including support vector regression (SVR), random forest (RF), and neural network autoregression (NNAR). To assess their forecasting performances, two statistical accuracy measures, namely, root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) are considered. Based on our findings, it is observed that the RF algorithm is very effective in predicting the death rate of the COVID-19 data in Mexico. Whereas, for the second data, the SVR performs better as compared to the other methods.

Women working in healthcare sector during COVID-19 in the National Capital Region of India: a case study

Healthcare workers are the backbone of society, serving and aiding people with biological illnesses. They are the most vulnerable part of society, as there is no work-from-home option available to the health sector workers during the pandemic. The study aims to investigate the issues faced by women working in the health care sector as nurses, doctors, etc., during the pandemic COVID19. The pandemic increased the workload of women as a whole and particularly women working in the health sector. The paper focuses on issues and challenges faced by women working in the healthcare sector during the pandemic, revealing the number of hours they had to work, how they got quarantined, the issues they faced while working, the challenge of stealing time to be spent with family and the nightmare of coping the truth that the virus might be transmitted to their children and other family members, the fear of working in coronavirus ward, the issues faced in wearing the double mask and personal protective equipment. It would also highlight the issues and struggle they had to go through while working in the healthcare sector as a woman. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Return prediction for healthcare sector stocks by using Long Short-Term Memory Algorithm

The research is conducted during the rage of COVID-19 throughout the world. The world meets new challenges from COVID-19 from every dimension, especially the economical world. In the economic world, the most related part for the influence that springs from COVID-19 is the stocks belonging to the healthcare sector. Aiming at doing the return prediction for healthcare sector stocks, the study chooses Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Algorithm to introduce machines to adapt the pattern and make predictions. The study selects 6 less volatile while keeping high average trading volume stocks from the healthcare sector. Using the LSTM learning model to learn the past 5 years’ data and make the prediction to the future 5 days. The data consist of 65% of the company's data from five years ago as the training set, and the last 35% of the data as the test set. The study compares the actual data to the predicted data and sees the error by calculating root mean square error (RMSE). The result draws the conclusion that the model will perform more precise prediction when the picked stock has a clear price trend and less fluctuation. The application for this study is to provide a short-term trading strategy and manage the risk for short-term stock investment by using the LSTM model. © 2022 SPIE.

A Review of E-Training and Development Practices Implemented by Government for Healthcare Sector and their Impact during COVID 19 (With Special Reference to Uttrakhand)

The sudden outbreak of Corona virus disease popularly known as Covid 19 has drastic impact on all over the world. It especially shattered the whole healthcare sector. As on June 2022 the world health organisation reported 6320599 Corona virus deaths since the epidemic began. The whole world faces the covid crisis as the most dangerous and unfortunate after the World War II. As the study focuses the Uttrakhand state and we all know the geographical and climatic conditions of this state. More than 70% of the state is hill and the extreme climatic condition even makes the health sector more prone to shattered. The study analysed state Covid 19 data, taken from an authenticated Uttrakhand government sites. Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and National Skill Development Corporation(NSDC),supported by healthcare sector skill,council,have designed various courses as part of the Covid response program which support the adequate number of healthcare provider in the country. The Covid 19 not only brought the serious challenge to the government but also opened the eyes of every policy maker and business organisation to rethink about the skills, abilities and knowledge of their workforce to tackle such kind of unforeseen situations. To cope with manpower shortage in hospitals which is always prevailing in Uttrakhand state but Covid 19 makes it more vulnerable and make the whole Indian government to think on such kinds of training programmes which help the citizens to overcome from this situations. © 2022. Specialusis Ugdymas. All Rights Reserved.

Exploratory examination of environmental protection behaviors in a hospital setting using the theory of planned behavior and ethical leadership

Most research focused on understanding the general environmental awareness or attitudes around the world, targeting residents, students, or undergraduates. There were limited attempts to understand the environmental protection behaviors in Taiwan healthcare sector. A questionnaire survey was designed with current healthcare personnel in Taiwan as target population. From the theory of planned behavior and ethical leadership, structural equation modelling allowed a better explanation of the social-psychological indicators affecting environmental protection behaviors in the healthcare sector. Attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control are positively impacted by ethical leadership. Environmental protection behavior is significantly influenced by environmental protection intention, while environmental protection intention is strongly affected by perceived behavioral control which is the strongest predictor, followed by attitude. However, there is insignificant correlation of subjective norms to environmental protection intention, due to the weaken social connection among healthcare personals, especially with the heavily burdened workload and restrictive measure during the COVID-19 crisis in a hospital environment.

Public Health Management: The Way Forward through Patent Pools

Patent pools covers agreements whereby two or more parties agree to pool their respective technologies and license them as a package. It facilitates public health management of IP through a partnership between an entity with a public health mandate on one hand and private pharmaceutical companies on the other hand. This model of access-oriented and nonexclusive voluntary licensing mechanisms with a clear public health mandate can contribute to achieving this goal of Universal Health coverage and can overcome a number of access and innovation challenges in the biopharmaceutical field. This can be substantiated by analyzing the successful Medicines Patent pool. The benefits of collaborative research and an efficient patent pool could also be witnessed when COVID-19 pandemic was declared as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization (WHO) on January 30, 2020, where they launched the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) with a Solidarity Call to Action for sharing intellectual property on treatments and vaccines. © 2022, Department of Law, University of North Bengal. All rights reserved.

A Unified Decision-Making Technique for Analysing Treatments in Pandemic Context

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a global humanitarian disaster that has never been seen before. Medical experts, on the other hand, are undecided on the most valuable treatments of therapy because people ill with this infection exhibit a wide range of illness indications at different phases of infection. Further, this project aims to undertake an experimental investigation to determine which treatments for COVID-19 disease is the most effective and preferable. The research analysis is based on vast data gathered from professionals and research journals, making this study a comprehensive reference. To solve this challenging task, the researchers used the HF AHP-TOPSIS Methodology, which is a well-known and highly effective Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) technique. The technique assesses the many treatment options identified through various research papers and guidelines proposed by various countries, based on the recommendations of medical practitioners and professionals. The review process begins with a ranking of different treatments based on their effectiveness using the HF-AHP approach and then evaluates the results in five different hospitals chosen by the authors as alternatives. We also perform robustness analysis to validate the conclusions of our analysis. As a result, we obtained highly corroborative results that can be used as a reference. The results suggest that convalescent plasma has the greatest rank and priority in terms of effectiveness and demand, implying that convalescent plasma is the most effective treatment for SARS-CoV-2 in our opinion. Peepli also has the lowest priority in the estimation. © 2022 Tech Science Press. All rights reserved.

Myths About COVID-19

BACKGROUND: At the end of 2019, a new disease was identified in Wuhan, China. A new type of corona virus was identified to be responsible for this illness, which was caused by a novel type of corona virus and affected nearly the entire planet. 2019-nCov, or Wuhan-corona virus, is the name given to this new virus by Chinese researchers. When working with the media, the World Health Organization refers to it as the COVID-19 virus to avoid confusion. COVID-19 is a brand-new product both globally and in India. People's minds have been thrown off by this. In Indian society, there are different rumors regarding the corona virus that induce panic in people's minds. In humans it causes respiratory tract infections which can be mild or lethal. Include mild infections like common cold, headache, running nose etc. In pigs and cows, it causes diarrhea. © The Electrochemical Society

DETERMINATION OF THE AMOUNT OF HEALTHCARE PUBLIC FUNDING: THE LATVIAN CASE

Decisions on public funding allocation are significant challenges for any healthcare system. The Latvian health financing policy faces challenges that threaten its long-term sustainability and the values of solidarity. According to the World Health Organization, health, as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, is one of the fundamental rights every human, and is dependent upon the fullest cooperation of individuals and states. This also includes the task to “substantially increase health financing.” Such concepts require the regular measurement of progress in order to explicate the achieved level in statics and dynamics and to make strategic decisions for the coming period, including those on public healthcare expenditure. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the necessary allocations of general government budget expenditures, ensure justification for the strategic decisions for the next planning period on healthcare expenditure, evaluate the achieved level in statics and dynamics, and provide policy recommendations for future health financing system reforms. Research methodology - To achieve the goal of the research, comparative analysis and methods of theoretical research were used. Intelligent data mining methods were employed for the discovery of and the creation of knowledge on existing regularities in health system expenditure based on mutually comparable factual cases - the declared statistical indicators of the EU27 countries. Findings - Using data mining analytical tools, the minimum of the general government health expenditure in EU countries was computed in this study: around €1,500 per capita in 2018. The optimal segmentation of general government health expenditure according to the COFOG classification was also computed. Research limitations - The minimum expenditure calculated is especially relevant for low-expenditure Central and Eastern European countries, while the total public health expenditure segmentation is applicable for any EU country. The benchmarking algorithms are well-suited for comparing aspects of the health sector, identifying leaders with the best performance and best practices, and analyzing how higher performance levels are achieved. However, it should be borne in mind that some dispersion could be caused by heterogeneous environmental conditions. Practical implications - Governments can consider making sustainable policy decisions and performing the programming process of allocating public resources. This would also help to balance cross-sectoral links between public healthcare and the economy during post-COVID-19 recovery. Originality/Value - The use of the data mining analytical tools in this study answered a question that is very important for society: What is the minimum amount an EU country should spend on health? The processing of financial data shows that the widespread assumption of the necessary general government health expenditure of 5% of the GDP is not substantiated. © 2022 Mykolo Romerio Universitetas. All rights reserved.