By Rebecca Weintraub, MD
Today, we mark a new chapter in how the United States Federal government will respond to COVID-19.
Over the past month, I have served as a vaccinator at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. This hospital holds great meaning: it’s where I work, trained, delivered my children, and have been a patient myself. But it’s in my most recent role here — as vaccinator — that I’ve come to understand the shared work of healing after prolonged stress and grief. We’ve rolled up our sleeves for the better part of a year, but this time, of…
By Sue Gullo, RN, MS
Ariadne Labs’ vision is for health systems to deliver the best possible care for every patient, everywhere, every time. This means next door in Boston, Massachusetts, in cities and towns across the US, or globally to the far reaches of the world. At Ariadne Labs, we rigorously develop simple, scalable solutions that address critical gaps in the way health care is delivered.
We know, however, that without an effective implementation plan, even the best designed tools won’t live up to their full potential. Each of our programs at Ariadne Labs has grown significantly over time…
By Avery Plough, MPH; Amber Weiseth, DNP, MSN, RNC-OB; Elizabeth Curtis; Joyce Edmonds, PhD, MPH, RN; Monica Christina Esqueda, PhD; Heather M. Young, PhD, RN, FAAN; Neel Shah, MD, MPP
The rapid and unyielding spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed how health care is administered, delivered, and experienced. While this is true across the entire spectrum of care, maternal health is particularly sensitive to these disruptions, with potentially far-reaching generational impacts.
The pandemic has exposed weaknesses and inequities in our maternal care systems, including fragmented care, anti-Blackness, and unconscionable racial inequities; however, it has also revealed unique opportunities…
By Rachel Broudy
In recent years, there has been a movement in health care to focus on goal driven care, where the goals are patient goals and the laudable intent is to provide patient-centered care. However, there is something uncomfortable for me in the focus on goal driven care, goal attainability scales, and achieving what matters for patients. What could be wrong, you ask, about setting and achieving goals and paying attention to what matters? To me, it’s the worry that this intent becomes one more box for us to check, and we lose the transformative power of seeing our…
By Asaf Bitton, MD, MPH; Evan Benjamin, MD, MS, FACP; Margaret Ben-Or, MPH
Many K–12 schools in the United States are closing in on the end of their first term of the 2020–2021 school year, a year unlike anything we have experienced in recent history due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some schools have opened their doors to full in-person instruction, others have adopted a hybrid model of remote and in-person learning, and still others have remained fully virtual. Planning for any of these models has been difficult and complex for school administrators, educators and staff, families, and students.
By Evan Benjamin, MD, MS, FACP; Bozwell Bueno; Meghan Long, MHA; and Saranya Loehrer, MD, MPH
Over the past several months we have had the privilege of supporting health care organizations across the United States as they respond to unprecedented challenges brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic. From policy and payment changes at the federal and state level to innumerable changes at the level of health care delivery and operations, seemingly every aspect of health care has been upended by the pandemic. …
By Mary Brindle, MD, MPH
A pediatric surgeon’s job is characterized by urgency — whether operating on a neonate born with a life-threatening condition or a teenager badly injured in a motor vehicle collision. We are familiar with rapid decision-making informed by best evidence. These are qualities that proved essential in confronting the COVID-19 pandemic.
I am a pediatric surgeon at a hospital located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and at the western border of the Canadian prairies in one of the largest urban centers in Canada. We serve a catchment area of about 2.5 million people. I…
By Rebecca Weintraub, MD
Like many families, we watched summer plans for our two children dissolve as the COVID-19 pandemic raged unchecked and travel restrictions mounted, forcing many camps to go virtual or shut down. As we scrambled to find alternatives, we learned of two camps opening in-person in Maine, a state within driving distance that had low community transmission rates. One of them, a music camp, was particularly high-risk due to the aerosols produced by woodwind instruments. But both had detailed safety protocols, and we felt fortunate to find spots for our sons. …
By Laura Subramanian, Anthony McDonnell, Robert Van Exan, Julie Rosenberg, Prashant Yadav, and Rebecca Weintraub
As the world awaits the results of COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, we need to invest now in systems to ensure equitable global vaccine delivery. Sixteen vaccine experts from the vaccine industry, academic and regulatory agencies interviewed by the Center for Global Development and Ariadne Labs advised on how to do this. While being asked to inform quantitative models on COVID-19 vaccine success rates and timelines, they shared recommendations on COVID-19 vaccine communications, safety monitoring, manufacturing, and distribution, as well as lessons learned for pandemic vaccine…
By Noah Nunnelly
*Names and details have been changed to protect privacy.
Mary* (not her real name) has been working at a nursing home as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) for many years; she cares deeply for her patients, takes pride in her facility, and does hard work. Sometimes, her shift will last 16 hours. Judy* is one of Mary’s patients. She loves to sew, and according to Mary, is an “absolute firecracker.” One day this spring, a bored Judy began pestering Mary. Mary smiled, and left the room to tear a hole in her sweater; she returned swiftly to…
Ariadne Labs
Our mission is to create scalable health care solutions that deliver better care at the most critical moments in people's lives, everywhere.
