Category: Healthcare

From improved access to life-saving care, to better better treatment outcomes for a wide range of conditions, to helping at risk populations receive care when they need it most, O.R. and analytics are being leveraged in myriad ways to improve health and wellness across the globe.

The Opioid Epidemic: Using OR/MS to combat the leading public health crisis

The opioid epidemic is a decades long public health crisis that is only continuing to grow in severity and impact. It is currently the foremost public health crisis in the United States, with its roots tracing back to mid to late 1990s when the highly concentrated prescription pain killer Oxycontin was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in conjunction with the controversial pain as the fifth vital sign campaign, among other factors. As the U.S. government, healthcare system, and general public struggle to combat this epidemic, members of the OR/MS and analytics community are leveraging data and research…

Tags: data-driven, equitable, opioid epidemic, resource allocation

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Organ trafficking: The dark side of kidney exchange

Human trafficking is a global crime, impacting an estimated 27.6 million individuals each year. And while we might think that trafficking is a problem present in distant locations far from home, the sobering fact is that it is everywhere including in our own communities. And while I think most are familiar with the existence of some of the perhaps better recognized forms of human trafficking – including sex trafficking and labor trafficking – it might surprise listeners that organ trafficking – in particular, kidney trafficking – is another significant form of human trafficking. In fact, it’s a $1.7 billion industry…

Tags: human trafficking, kidney trafficing, NSF, organ trafficking, transplant

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Advocating for and mentoring women in STEM (and International Women’s Day!)

We’re coming up on International Women’s Day on March 8 and here at INFORMS we’re excited to recognized and celebrate the incredible contributions of women in STEM! This year’s theme is Embrace Equity, highlighting how embracing gender equity will help create an inclusive world. Joining me to explore the growing impact of women in the STEM fields, and share her own incredible work is Lauren Czerniak, a PhD candidate with the University of Michigan. Lauren’s research focuses on developing and applying stochastic models to address current challenges in healthcare with applications in pharmaceutical drugs, glaucoma, and concussion management. In addition…

Tags: engineering, International Women's Day, mentoring, Women in STEM

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Cheerful african woman wearing trendy red headscarf

Leveraging simulation to increase access to sexual and reproductive health services

This week’s podcast is an incredible example of the power of O.R. and analytics to unite and empower people and communities across the globe, and I’m excited and honored to share this story with you! I’m joined by Andrew Wylie, a simulation consultant at Simul8 Corporation which develops simulation software to provide unique, evidence-based approaches to decision making, and William Taylor, head of operations at Shout-It-Now, which uses innovative approaches to provide South African communities with free sexual and reproductive health services. We’ll be discussing the unique partnership between these two organizations, which is leveraging O.R. and analytics to make…

Tags: AIDS, health services, healthcare access, HIV, Shout-It-Now, SIMUL8

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Exploring global health security and healthcare supply chains at #INFORMS2022

Special series featuring in-person interviews from #INFORMS2022 in Indianapolis! I was delighted to be joined in person in Indianapolis at the 2022 INFORMS Annual Meeting by Prashant Yadav with INSEAD. He was a keynote presenter at this year’s Annual Meeting, “Global Health Security and Healthcare Supply Chains: Perspectives and Opportunities for Operations Research,” and he kindly took some time out of his busy meeting schedule to sit down with me and explore the topic of his presentation.

Tags: Annual Meeting, COVID-19, global supply chains, gobal health security, vaccines

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asian chinese senior man in wheelchair with face shield , face mask under dialysis treatment in hospital

Ensuring “compassion” is at the core of compassionate dialysis screening

End-stage renal disease, or ESRD, is a serious medical condition caused by failure of the kidneys that also has significant social and economic implications. The only treatments for end-stage renal disease are regular courses of dialysis or a kidney transplant. For individuals with ESRD who do not have access to treatment, either because they are uninsured or they may not be a legal residents of the U.S., often their only option is to resort to going to the emergency room in order to receive dialysis. However, mandatory hospital and even county protocols structured to prevent emergency room congestion can result…

Tags: compassionate dialysis, dialysis, emergency room, end stage renal disease, kidney disease

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Drones and defibrillators: Saving minutes to save lives

Cardiovascular disease, a term for a number of disorders of the heart and blood vessels, is a serious and steadily growing threat to global health, causing even more deaths every year than cancer. In the U.S. alone, nearly 660,000 people, or 1 in 4, die of heart disease annually. In particular, cardiovascular disease can lead to cardiac arrest, a serious condition in which the heart suddenly stops beating. One of the most effective methods of treatment for cardiac arrest is an automated external defibrillator, which can not only correct an episode of arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, but can restore the…

Tags: cardiac arrest, cardiovascular disease, defibrillator, healthcare, Tim Chan, University of Toronto

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Improving guidelines for hypertension treatment to save lives

According to the CDC, nearly half of all adults in the U.S. have hypertension or are taking medication to control it. Of these individuals, only about 1 in 4 actually have their condition under control, whether through improved diet and exercise, making different lifestyle choices such as not smoking, or with prescription medications. Knowing when to start treating someone for hypertension is extremely important, as elevated blood pressure can lead to heart disease, stroke, and even death. However, there can be some uncertainty in the medical community on when it is appropriate to begin medication, as guidelines are frequently revised,…

Tags: heart disease, hypertension, JNC 8 guidelines

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Helping valuable donor milk reach infants in need

Over 15 million infants around the world are born prematurely each year and can experience health complications and lengthy hospitalizations as a result of underdevelopment and immature immune systems. One of the best resources for these babies can come from their mother’s breast milk, which has unique growth factors and nutritional qualities that can help combat a number of serious conditions that can impact premature infants. But for babies whose mothers may be unable to produce milk due to their baby’s premature birth, or have health conditions or medications that preclude breastfeeding, and a physician recommends breast milk as the…

Tags: breast milk, donor breast milk, infants, premature babies

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Shining a light on the COVID-19 vaccine distribution

After a year dominated by the many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 dawned with an optimistic look ahead, as we witnessed the start of the rollout of a coronavirus vaccine. But as we are still in the earliest stages of this effort, there are still challenges ahead and a great deal of uncertainty. Joining me to shine some light on this is Anna Nagurney, the John F. Smith Memorial Professor in the Department of Operations and Information Management in the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is also the Founding Director of the Virtual…

Tags: Anna Nagurney, COVID-19, pandemic, supply chains, vaccine

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