COVID-19: A crisis of public health and patient trust

Health systems across the country have been forced to assuage patients’ fears related to COVID-19 and assure them that they can—and should—continue to safely seek care in acute settings. That has resulted in massive marketing and education campaigns, expedited the use of telehealth and patient outreach technology, and forced health systems to move at a lightning pace to solve problems. COVID-19 has demanded significant clinical and operational resources, and providers’ financial health has struggled as a result of declining revenue, in large part due to canceled or deferred elective surgeries. In general, the...