By: CIVHC President and CEO, Ana English, MBA
In early March, after years of training and just missing out in 2016, my daughter Amber qualified for the 2020 Olympics in international skeet shooting. It was everything a mother could wish for, a culmination of her hard work, dreams and a chance to shine on a stage larger than life. We all started making plans to travel to Tokyo to cheer her on. But COVID-19 had other plans.
The Olympics have been postponed and athletes around the world are grappling with frustration from suspended aspirations and the uncertainties of this virus. There is no playbook to draw from in this situation and, as I remind Amber, we all have to stay focused, remain agile, and help where we can.
CIVHC is also making these our watchwords as COVID-19 continues to move through Colorado and the nation and we determine how best to support current efforts, prepare for the future, and learn from the past.
We’ve been engaging with local and national experts and partners to determine ways that analyses from the Colorado All Payer Claims Data (CO APCD) could inform different needs during and after the crisis. During these conversations it became clear that three analyses could be conducted now that could inform stakeholders in their work:
- Determine areas with concentrations of high risk individuals to prepare for future outbreaks.
- Identify the potential impact of deferring elective procedures on cost and utilization of care.
- Analyze historic telehealth usage in Colorado as a benchmark and to inform efforts to increase access for underserved areas and those most at-risk.
As we’re actively working on producing these public analyses, we know they barely scratch the surface of what the CO APCD can tell us about COVID-19. We have a long list of other analyses and questions that will be important to answer to better understand the impact of this pandemic and prepare for the future. In addition to providing data, we’re also participating in community engagement groups to support efforts such as communicating the need for advance care planning. We’re in this for the long haul and as the “new normal” comes into focus, we’re committed to staying focused, remaining agile, and helping where we can.
If you have ideas for a COVID-19 analysis using CO APCD data, please email info@civhc.org.