The Hot Spotters

One of Boston's major teaching hospitals is examining how it handles patients’ bodies and supports family members after a death.

In South Carolina, a Medicaid program is offering long-acting contraceptives during a new mother’s hospital stay, while she is still eligible for the benefit. Other states are following suit.

The United States is currently facing a rise in the cost of specialty drugs, but the nation may be able to learn from Germany's successful approach to a drug pricing initiative. Based on keeping government involvement to a minimum, new drugs must go through a series of evaluations with a non-governmental agency before entering the market to prove that the new drug has an added benefit compared to the existing drug therapies.

The Veterans Health Administration's Caregiver Support Program offers resources to family caregivers looking after veterans, including a monthly stipend, medical services, counseling and mental health care, respite care and coverage for travel expenses. The Program launched in 2011 and by 2014 about 15,600 caregivers had been approved for support — greatly exceeding the Program’s original estimate of 4,000 people.

Covid-19 has accelerated technological innovations and robots are being used to minimize the virus’ transmission. Mobile disinfectant units using UV light to break apart the virus’ genetic material are in use at some hospitals, airports, hotels, and food banks. They clean surfaces faster and with less risk than humans. Robots are also doing initial patient in-takes at hospitals to minimize transmission and identify critical cases, and telepresence bots, essentially i-pads on wheels, allow patients to explore outside their quarantined spaces. Users do have to contend with occasional technological glitches.

The Maternal and Neonatal Emergency Transport Scheme helps to increase access to healthcare services for women and newborns in rural areas through its informal transport/ambulance service. There are currently 2,500 registered drivers with the program willing to transport those in need of care and they serve about 70-90 women in labor each month.

Drug Aid Africa sources unused, unaltered drugs from people who don’t need them anymore and distributes them to people who do need them but can’t afford or access them. Drug Aid Africa provides free routine medications for conditions like sickle-cell anemia, as well as antimalarials, antibiotics and frequent visits to communities where they provide healthcare support and supplies. So far, the organization's efforts have helped more than 10,000 people.

To address gaps in healthcare access, the local government partnered with organizations like Plan International, German Cooperation and the World Bank’s Saving One Million Lives Project to build, refurbish and equip primary healthcare centers across the state to provide better care. As of May 2023, 138 centers have been built or upgraded, offering maternity care services, child healthcare, vaccinations and family planning among other services.

VisionSpring provides more than two million pairs of glasses each year to those in need. Studies show that, when provided with free reading glasses, workers experience a 33% increase in income as they’re able to see and aren’t forced to leave the working world early as they age.

Birth in Color's doulas are filling the maternity care gap as rural labor and delivery rooms close, disproportionately impacting people of color. Doulas provide physical, emotional and informational support before, during and after childbirth, and advocate on the mother’s behalf. Doula care leads to improved birth outcomes and lower rates of C-sections, and in April 2022 doula services were added under the state’s Medicaid program.