Healthcare

Yale SOM’s Dr. Howard Forman explains how the state of Connecticut is buying back the medical debt of thousands of low-income residents at cents on the dollar.

We talked to Yale SOM’s Dr. Howard Forman about what the ACA has achieved and what aspects of the law could be weakened under a Republican administration.‌

Curt Bailey ’99, CEO of Bloodworks Northwest, explains how the generosity of blood donors enables a uniquely American model for managing a crucial corner of healthcare.

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is on the rise after a pandemic-era lull. Yale SOM’s Dr. Howard Forman says that the disease can lead to hospitalization and even death for the youngest children, but can be prevented by proper vaccination of babies and their mothers.

More than two million people have lost their vision, in whole or in part, to trachoma—a preventable infection that is widespread in areas with poor sanitation. Dr. Howard Forman writes that the campaign to eradicate trachoma by 2030 has achieved an important victory: eliminating the disease as a public health problem in India.

In the last two years, vaccine-derived polio has been spotted in the United States and Gaza. Now the original wild-type polio is spreading in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Dr. Howard Forman explains that politics are hampering efforts to control the outbreak.

Thus far, the outbreak is growing slowly, says Yale SOM’s Dr. Howard Forman. But a lack of coordination and testing continues to hobble the U.S. response.

Christina Mainelli ’11, CEO of Quartet Health, explains how the company solves bottlenecks around access, quality, and fragmentation to deliver whole person care.

A study by Yale’s Mushfiq Mobarak and his colleagues found that nurses on motorbikes with vaccine-stocked coolers could help increase vaccination rates in rural Sierra Leone, showing that it is possible to get health interventions to the most remote and under-resourced areas cost-effectively, in ways that help ensure that the interventions are taken up and used.

The Bias Time Out, developed by a team including Gina Calder ’22 and Dr. Cecelia Calhoun ’21, helps healthcare teams spot and address bias in real time.