Resources Repository
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Lesson/ModulePublication, Teaching Resource 2016Surviving the Surge
This case study explores the experiences of three Manhattan-based hospitals during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. …
This case study explores the experiences of three Manhattan-based hospitals during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. It focuses on decisions made by each institution, as Sandy approached, about whether to shelter-in-place or evacuate hundreds of medically fragile patients, and how each of the three hospitals took a different approach, informed by differing perceptions of risk and related factors. The case will be useful for public health students and administrators in understanding decision-making in settings of an…
Risk Analysis | Health/Medicine | Business/Industry | Social Determinants | Injuries/Accidents | Decision Analysis | Environmental Health | Climate/Environment | North America | Graduate | Doctoral | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership -
EditorialPublication 2020Waiting for Certainty on COVID-19 Antibody Tests — At What Cost?
This perspective anticipates the availability of serologic antibody testing and considers its potential usefulness in mitigation …
This perspective anticipates the availability of serologic antibody testing and considers its potential usefulness in mitigation policy to reduce COVID-19 transmission. For example: Could we screen for serologic antibodies as a proxy for possible immunity and identify people who could return to the workplace with less severe mitigation measures? The authors acknowledge the uncertainties raised by many policy actors, including the WHO, such as, "Do antibodies confer immunity and, if so, for how long? How accurate is…
Probability/Bayes | Test Performance | Health/Medicine | Health Systems | Technology Assessment | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | Global | North America -
ReportPublication 2015Improving Diagnosis in Health Care
Getting the right diagnosis is a key aspect of health care - it provides an …
Getting the right diagnosis is a key aspect of health care - it provides an explanation of a patient's health problem and informs subsequent health care decisions. The diagnostic process is a complex, collaborative activity that involves clinical reasoning and information gathering to determine a patient's health problem. This report, Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, explains that diagnostic errors-inaccurate or delayed diagnoses-persist throughout all settings of care and continue to harm an unacceptable number of patients.…
Probability/Bayes | Test Performance | Health/Medicine | Health Systems | Health Outcomes | Value of Information | North America -
BookPublication 2014Decision Making in Health and Medicine: Integrating Evidence and Values
Decision making in health care involves consideration of a complex set of diagnostic, therapeutic and …
Decision making in health care involves consideration of a complex set of diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic uncertainties. Medical therapies have side effects, surgical interventions may lead to complications, and diagnostic tests can produce misleading results. Furthermore, patient values and service costs must be considered. Decisions in clinical and health policy require careful weighing of risks and benefits and are commonly a trade-off of competing objectives: maximizing quality of life vs maximizing life expectancy vs minimizing…
Probability/Bayes | Test Performance | Health/Medicine | Health Systems | Preferences/Values | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | Value of Information | Mathematical Models | Decision Analysis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Global | North America | Europe | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership | Quantitative Literacy -
ArticlePublication 2021Racial and Ethnic Inequities in the Early Distribution of U.S. COVID-19 Testing Sites and Mortality
In 2020, U.S. COVID-19 testing sites were pivotal not just for diagnosis but also to …
In 2020, U.S. COVID-19 testing sites were pivotal not just for diagnosis but also to provide data that would contribute to understanding transmission. This research explored how these sites were distributed in relation to racial and ethnic demographics and its connection to observed disparities in COVID-19 outcomes. Data from mid-April to late May 2020 revealed that testing sites were not equally distributed among racial groups. Specifically, there was an overrepresentation of testing sites in areas…
Test Performance | Health/Medicine | Social Determinants | Health Outcomes | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Culture/Society | Science/Technology | North America -
ReviewPublication 2022Significance of Advanced COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing in Pandemic Control Measures
Over the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific community has mounted significant …
Over the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific community has mounted significant efforts to combat the highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 virus. Despite substantial progress in vaccines and treatments, leading to lower hospitalization and death rates, the virus has continued to evolve, primarily through mutations. From the onset, diagnostic tests have been crucial in identifying and controlling the virus spread. The scientific world has pioneered various diagnostic techniques, including nucleic acid, antigen, and antibody-based…
Test Performance | Health/Medicine | Health Systems | Infectious Diseases | Clinical Care | Science/Technology | North America -
ReviewPublication 2022Diagnostics for COVID-19: Moving from Pandemic Response to Control
Diagnostics are essential in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, with three primary methods for detecting SARS-CoV-2 …
Diagnostics are essential in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, with three primary methods for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infections. Each test type remains vital as we shift from responding to controlling the pandemic. Molecular tests, like PCR, are highly precise in identifying viral RNA and are endorsed by the WHO for confirming cases and guiding public health actions. Antigen rapid tests spot viral proteins and, while less accurate than molecular tests, are quicker, more affordable, simpler, and can…
Test Performance | Health/Medicine | Health Systems | Infectious Diseases | Clinical Care | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2020Translating Population Evidence to Individual Patients
In this paper, the authors describe the differences in population level outcomes compared to individual …
In this paper, the authors describe the differences in population level outcomes compared to individual patients and discuss ways that these are differences. The authors cover topics including the difference between relative and absolute risk and benefit. They use an example of the decision to start anticoagulation in new-onset atrial fibrillation to discuss translating population level evidence to treatment of an individual. These options include generalizability, subgroup analysis, prediction rules, following response to therapy, and even…
Test Performance | Health/Medicine | Health Systems | Evidence Synthesis | Clinical Care -
ArticlePublication 2019Measuring Progress Towards Universal Health Coverage
This article, published in BMJ Global Health, aims to estimate the 2015 national and subnational …
This article, published in BMJ Global Health, aims to estimate the 2015 national and subnational universal health coverage (UHC) service coverage status for Ethiopia. The UHC service coverage index is constructed from the geometric means of component indicators: first, within each of four major categories and then across all components to obtain the final summary index. The authors estimate UHC service coverage at the subnational level using a variety of surveys and routinely collected administrative…
Test Performance | Health/Medicine | Health Systems | Sub-Saharan Africa