The Invisible Backbone: Strengthening Supply Chain and Public Health Infrastructure
Pandemic responses require efficient flow of materials (like vaccines, supplies, and equipment), information, and workforce across the entire system. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed deep gaps and flaws in the United States public health infrastructure and supply chain—leading to shortages and disruptions throughout all levels of care and prevention. In order to successfully stop the spread of COVID-19, rebuild, and prepare adequately for future pandemics, these often unseen but critical frameworks of our health care system must be evaluated and shored up. This panel explained components and processes that comprise our vaccine development pipeline, medical supply chain, and public health infrastructure, as well as explore the crucial interactions between the three operations. Expert panelists highlighted policy considerations to leverage and improve these foundational systems for the future.
Panelists
- Jennifer B. Alton, MPP, Senior Strategy and Policy Advisor, Coalition to Stop Flu
- Anita Cicero, J.D., Deputy Director, Center for Health Security, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (moderator)
- Nicolette Louissaint, Ph.D., Executive Director, Healthcare Ready
- Jennifer Rakeman, Ph.D., Assistant Commissioner and Laboratory Director, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
This panel was part of our Summit, a program of our 2020 Signature Series.
Event Resources
Event Resources
Resources by Event
(Listed chronologically, beginning with the most recent.)
Panel #1: The Invisible Backbone—Strengthening Supply Chain and Public Health Infrastructure | Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Key Resources
“State Actions to Mitigate the Spread of COVID-19.” Kaiser Family Foundation. July 14, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/bDgK.
“Policy Options for Building Resilient U.S. Medical Supply Networks.” Adler, D., Breznitz, D., and Helper, S. Washington Center for Equitable Growth. May 29, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/Cbnp.
“Can We Contain the COVID-19 Outbreak with the Same Measures as for SARS?” Wilder-Smith, A., Chiew, C., and Lee, V. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. May 2020. Available at http://allh.us/gb3R.
“Critical Supply Shortages — The Need for Ventilators and Personal Protective Equipment During the Covid-19 Pandemic.” Ranney, M., Griffeth, V., and Jha, A. New England Journal of Medicine. April 30, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/tBQH.
“COVID-19 Treatment and Vaccine Tracker.” FasterCures, Center of the Milken Institute. April 2020. Available at http://allh.us/3YhC.
“Contact Tracing Workforce Estimator.” Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity. 2020. Available at http://allh.us/7HP3.
“A Coordinated, National Approach to Scaling Public Health Capacity for Contact Tracing and Disease Investigation.” Fraser, M., Lane, J., Ruebush, E., et al. Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. 2020. Available at http://allh.us/XpMK.
Additional Resources
“NIH Launches Clinical Trials Network to Test COVID-19 Vaccines and Other Prevention Tools.” National Institutes of Health. July 8, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/QnMg.
“Distrust, Underfunding Hinders COVID-19 Contact Tracing.” Hlavinka, E. 2020. MedPage Today. July 7, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/neUY.
“Overview of Testing for SARS-CoV-2.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. July 2, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/abGD.
“Contact Tracing Remains Inadequate in Most States.” Capretta, J.. American Enterprise Institute. July 1, 2020. Available at: http://allh.us/j6qx.
“KFF’s Kaiser Health News (KHN), AP Investigate the State of the Nation’s Public Health Infrastructure as It Confronts the Challenge of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” KFF. July 1, 2020. Available at: http://allh.us/VEhe.
“The Biopharmaceutical Industry Is Leading the Way in Developing New Vaccines and Treatments for COVID-19.” PhRMA. June 19, 2020. Available at: http://allh.us/kJeQ.
“Once a Vaccine Is Ready, Getting People to Take It May Be a Challenge.” Palimaru, A., Dillistone, M., and Ries, C. RAND Corporation. June 9, 2020. Available at: http://allh.us/UQnA.
“COVID-19 Pandemic: Supply Chain Expansion Line of Effort.” FEMA. May 18, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/gBjy.
“A National Plan to Enable Comprehensive COVID-19 Case Finding and Contact Tracing in the US.” Watson, C., Cicero, A., Blumenstock, J., et al. Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and ASTHO. April 10, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/XxGh.
“COVID-19: Impact on Medical Product Supply Chain.” He, B., Scalzo, R., and Serafin, G. FTI Consulting. March 31, 2020. Available at: http://allh.us/JmhA.
“Ensuring Global Access to COVID-19 Vaccines.” Yamey, G., Schäferhoff, M., Hatchett, R., et al. The Lancet.. March 31, 2020. Available at: http://allh.us/dFpJ.
“Representing the Full Influenza Ecosystem.” Coalition to Stop Flu. 2020 Available at: http://allh.us/Tjbq.
Keynote #1: Perspectives on Health Equity with Dr. Rashawn Ray and Licy Do Canto | Tuesday, July 21
Key Resources
“Inequality During the Coronavirus Pandemic.” Ray, R and Rojas, F. Contexts. April 16, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/YpWB.
“How to Reduce the Racial Gap in COVID-19 Deaths.” Ray, R. Brookings Institute. April 10, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/hvyQ.
“Why are Blacks Dying at Higher Rates from COVID-19.” Ray, R. Brookings Institute. April 9, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/uxeC.
“Reopening America: How to Save Lives and Livelihoods.” Allen, J. and West, D. Brookings Institute. 2020. Available at http://allh.us/UWAP.
“How Families Matter: Simply Complicated Intersections of Race, Gender, and Work.” Jackson, P. and Ray, R. Lexington Books. June 20, 2018. Available at http://allh.us/DuTN.
Additional Resources
“Beyond Lip Service: Taking a Genuine Approach to Tackling COVID-19 (And All) Black-White Health Disparities in the United States.” Glasgow, L. Health Affairs Blog. June 9, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/MhWC.
“Black Americans Face Higher COVID-19 Risks, Are More Hesitant to Trust Medical Scientist, Get Vaccinated.” Gramlich, J. and Funk, C. Pew Research Center. June 4, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/pA8a.
“Trump Administration Sets Demographic Requirements for Coronavirus Reports.” Weiland, N. and Mandavilli, A. The New York Times. June 4, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/q4bG.
“Compliant but Unprotected: Communities of Color Take Greater Action to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 But Remain at Risk.” Hernandez-Vallant, A., Sanchez, G., Roybal, C., et. al. Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science. June 3, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/YcNR.
“Doctors Can’t Treat COVID-19 Effectively Without Recognizing the Social Justice Aspects of Health.” Julian, Z., Hardeman, R., and Huerto, R. The Conversation. June 3, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/JGUb.
“Links to Information on COVID-19 & Vulnerable Populations.” National Institute of Health Care Management. June 2020. Available at http://allh.us/874Q.
“Native American Studies: COVID-19 & Indigenous Communities.” University of California Berkeley. June 2020. Available at http://allh.us/fM7y.
“What Do Coronavirus Racial Disparities Look Like State by State?” Godoy, M. and Wood, D. National Public Radio. May 30, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/X4wn.
“COVID-19 and Communities of Color.” Holtz-Eakin, D. American Action Forum. May 28, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/NMyg.
“As COVID-19 Tears Through Navajo Nation, Young People Step Up to Protect Their Elders.” Gable, M. Stat News. May 26, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/8NhW.
“3 Principles for an Anti-Racist, Equitable State Response to COVID-19- and a Stronger Recovery.” Williams, E. and Sanders, C. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. May 21, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/yAeJ.
“COVID-19 Presents Significant Risks for American Indian and Alaska Native People.” Artiga, S. and Orgera, K. Kaiser Family Foundation. May 14, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/dcBx.
“COVID-19 and Racial/Ethnic Disparities.” Webb Hooper, M. Nápoles, A., and Pèrez-Stable, E. JAMA Network. May 11, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/xvWP.
“Race, Comorbidities, and COVID-19.” Epic Health Research Network. May 11, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/PuHQ.
“History of Inequality Making COVID-19 Worse for Native Americans.” Deaderick, L. The San Diego Union- Tribune. May 10, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/y8Vf.
“The CARES Act Risks Becoming a Caste Act. Here’s How We Can Change That.” Ray, R., Jackson, J., and Yeary, S.T. Newsweek. May 7, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/QGHb.
“Best Practices for American Indian and Alaska Native Data Collection.” Urban Indian Health Institute. May 4, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/fWhE.
“COVID-19 Relief for Communities of Color: Fact Sheet.” Black Women’s Health Imperative. May 4, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/Mym4.
“COVID-19’s Class Divide Creates New Political Risks.” Bolton, A. The Hill. May 3, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/VXYt.
“COVID-19 More Prevalent, Deadlier in U.S. Counties with Higher Black Populations.” Zephyrin, L., Radley, D., Getachew, Y., et. al. The Commonwealth Fund. To the Point (blog). April 23, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/Xxra.
“How COVID-19 is Exposing Health Care Inequities.” Newman, C. UVA Today. April 16, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/8pxU.
“I’m Shocked that Structural Racism and Capitalism are Going on Here.” Jones, M. The St. Louis American. April 13, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/rveA.
“Why We Need to Be Talking About Health Equity During the Coronavirus Pandemic.” Powell, W. and Everette, T. Hartford Courant. April 11, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/GUtX.
“The ‘Soft Racism’ of the COVID-19 Pandemic Response.” Orrell, B. American Enterprise Institute. April 8, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/94JD.
“Black, Latino Communities Suffering Disproportionately from Coronavirus, Statistics Show.” Moreno, E. The Hill. April 7, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/a9Gj.
“The Pandemic’s Missing Data.” Maybank, A. The New York Times. April 7, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/hMUD.
“COVID-19 Across the Navajo Nation.” Navajo Times. April 6, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/a4EQ.
“In 1918 and 2020, Race Colors America’s Response to Epidemics.” McDonald, S. The Undefeated. April 1, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/ncbk.
“The Racial Time Bomb in the COVID-19 Crisis.” Blow, C. The New York Times. April 1, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/TPEp.
“We Need Equity-Oriented Solutions to COVID-19, Not Stigma, Discrimination, and Fear.” Dettman, L. Public Health Newswire. March 18, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/uXmF.
“It’s Time to Address the Role of Implicit Bias Within Health Care Delivery.” Agrawal, S. and Enekwechi, A. Health Affairs Blog. January 15, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/Ucvm.
“Broken Promises: Continuing Federal Funding Shortfalls for Native Americans.” U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. December 2018. Available at http://allh.us/yJx4.
Panel #2: Care Delivery Transformation—Integrating Telehealth and Home-Based Care | Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Key Resources
“Executive Summary: Tracking Telehealth Changes State-by-State in Response to COVID-19.” Augenstein, J., Marks, J., Morgan, V., et al. Manatt. July 14, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/Vqkw.
“Telehealth Access, Value & Equity: COVID-19 and Beyond.” IMPAQ International. July 8, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/yQ34.
“Expanding Telehealth and Telementoring During COVID-19: AHRQ’s Expertise Helps Identify Next Steps.” Khanna, G. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. July 1, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/PxXB.
“How the Rapid Shift to Telehealth Leaves Many Community Health Centers Behind During The COVID-19 Pandemic.” Kim, J., Desai, E., and Cole, M. Health Affairs Blog. June 2, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/tQnU.
“COVID-19 Resources for Families.” The National Alliance for Caregiving. April 30, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/RxPv.
Additional Resources
“The Promise and Potential for Telehealth in Home Health.” Wicklund, E. mHealth Intelligence. July 10, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/XKxP.
“Home Health Agencies: CMS Flexibilities to Fight COVID-19.” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. July 9, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/E4Xw.
“Where Telemedicine Falls Short.” Blumenthal, D. The Commonwealth Fund. June 30, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/Tev8.
“CMS Moves to Make COVID-19 Home Health Telehealth Expansion Permanent.” Wicklund, E. mHealth Intelligence. June 26, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/X9gB.
“Overcome the Digital Divide & Achieve Health Equity.” access.mobile International. June 26, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/jrmf.
“How to Make Telemedicine Permanent in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Axelsen, K. and Jimeson, M. AEIdeas. June 1, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/bm73.
“Opportunities and Barriers for Telemedicine in the U.S. During the COVID-19 Emergency and Beyond.” Weigel, G., Ramaswamy, A., Sobel, L., et al. Kaiser Family Foundation. May 11, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/Kn9x.
“Ensuring the Growth of Telehealth During COVID-19 Does Not Exacerbate Disparities in Care.” Velasquez, D. and Mehrotra, A. Health Affairs Blog. May 8, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/8TFu.
“Removing Regulatory Barriers to Telehealth Before and After COVID-19.” Turner Lee, N., Karsten, J., and Roberts, J. Brookings Institute. May 6, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/YKua.
“Spotlight on Innovation: The Response to COVID-19.” Better Medicare Alliance. April 24, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/FGy8.
“Telehealth: Delivering Care Safely During COVID-19.” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. April 22, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/u3Ht.
“Home Healthcare Looks to Step in to Care for COVID-19 Patients.” Johnson, S. Modern Healthcare. March 18, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/wUen.
Panel #3: Using Data to Disrupt the Spread of COVID-19 and Prevent Future Pandemics | Thursday, July 23, 2020
Key Resources
“Data Interoperability and Exchange to Support COVID-19 Containment.” Mostashari, F. and McClellan, M. Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy. May 1, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/FrHW.
“Health Information Sharing Is More Critical Than Ever in the Wake of COVID-19.” McGraw, D. Milbank Memorial Fund. April 29, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/KyUP.
“Accelerating Data Infrastructure for COVID-19 Surveillance and Management.” Miri, A. and O’Neill, P. Health Affairs Blog. April 14, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/AFHC.
“The Fierce Urgency of Now: Closing Glaring Gaps in US Surveillance Data On COVID-19.” Krieger, N., Gonsalves, G., Bassett, M., et al. Health Affairs Blog. April 14, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/dhpq.
“These ‘Disease Hunters’ Developed a Novel Technique for Tracking Pandemics After 9/11, but Lost Funding Right Before COVID-19.” Farr, C. CNBC. April 4, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/bYUj.
Additional Resources
“Using Information Technology to Improve COVID-19 Care At New York City Health + Hospitals.” Salway, R.J., Silvestri, D., Wei, E., et al. Health Affairs Blog. July 16, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/d6fx.
“Telemedicine, Privacy, and Information Security in the Age of COVID-19.” Jalali, M., Landman, A., and Gordon, W. SSRN. July 13, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/T7Wk.
“Can Contact Tracing Work at COVID Scale?” Kaushal, A., and Altman, R. Health Affairs Blog. July 8, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/X9mK.
“Building a Real-Time Covid-19 Early-Warning System.” Weingarten, S., Slotkin, J., and Alkire, M. Harvard Business Review. June 16, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/n6vQ.
“Contact Tracing: 10 Unique Challenges of COVID-19.” Kuraitis, V., Perakslis, E., and McGraw, D. The Health Care Blog. June 12, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/NmaF.
“Digital Contact Tracing for Pandemic Response: Ethics and Governance Guidance.” Kahn, J. and Johns Hopkins Project on Ethics and Governance of Digital Contact Tracing Technologies. Johns Hopkins University Press. May 25, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/8mVT.
“Protecting Privacy in Digital Contact Tracing for COVID-19: Avoiding A Regulatory Patchwork.” Shachar, C. Health Affairs Blog. May 19, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/4yvK.
“COVID-19 and the Need for a National Health Information Technology Infrastructure.” Sittig, D. and Singh, H. JAMA. May 18, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/d3kn.
“The COVID-19 Pandemic Highlights Shortcomings in US Health Care Informatics Infrastructure: A Call to Action.” O’Reilly-Shah, V., Gentry, K., Van Cleve, W., et al. Anesthesia and Analgesia. May 1, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/AEq8.
“Balancing Health Privacy, Health Information Exchange, and Research in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Lenert, L., and McSwain, B. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. April 26, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/yHKW.
“Improving Notifiable Disease Case Reporting Through Electronic Information Exchange–Facilitated Decision Support: A Controlled Before-and-After Trial.” Dixon, B., Zhang, Z., Arno, J. et al. Public Health Reports 135. April 6, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/enDd.
“Privacy and Data Protection in the Age of COVID-19.” Deloitte Belgium. March 2020. Available at http://allh.us/uCMP.
Keynote #2: A Conversation on Innovative Research Approaches to Advance Our Understanding and Treatment of COVID-19 | Thursday, July 23, 2020
Key Resources
“About the National COVID Cohort Collaborative” (video). National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. May 13, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/KmMN.
Additional Resources
“UK Joins National Data Collaborative for COVID-19 Research.” Powell, M. UKNow. July 8, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/4dBu.
“Industry Voices—How Real-World EHR Data Are Enhancing Our Understanding of COVID-19.” Doyle, M. Fierce Healthcare. June 24, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/FyKw.
“Communicating Science in the Time of a Pandemic.” Saitz, R., and Schwitzer, G. JAMA. July 13, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/3GUm.
“Using Influenza Surveillance Networks to Estimate State-Specific Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States.” Silverman, J., Hupert, N., and Washburne, A. Science Translational Medicine. June 22, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/J8Pj.
“As Coronavirus Strikes, Crucial Data in Electronic Health Records Hard to Harvest.” Schulte, F. Kaiser Health News. April 30, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/Qejg.
“4CE: Consortium for Clinical Characterization of COVID-19 by EHR.” 4CE. March 20, 2020. Available at http://allh.us/vx8C.