Today, The Beryl Institute and Ipsos released the results of the second PX Pulse, a quarterly tracking survey, and, a first of its kind effort to elevate understanding of and track the current perspectives on patient experience in healthcare across the United States.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (PRWEB)
April 20, 2020

Today, The Beryl Institute and Ipsos released the results of the second PX Pulse, a quarterly tracking survey, and, a first of its kind effort to elevate understanding of and track the current perspectives on patient experience in healthcare across the United States. The survey comes amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and finds that while fewer Americans are visiting primary care physicians and specialists, their level of satisfaction with their healthcare has significantly increased since the last Pulse in January. The study also shows that Americans are placing an increased emphasis on reducing the threat of infectious diseases in light of COVID-19.

“COVID-19 is changing the way that Americans interact with the healthcare system, and the results are in,” said Clifford Young, President of Public Affairs for Ipsos. “In the last two months since our previous PX Pulse, it’s clear that fewer Americans are visiting their doctors as many are forced to delay non-essential procedures and check-ups in light of the pandemic. At the same time that fewer people are seeing their doctor, their perception of quality has risen dramatically. As the pandemic evolves, the PX Pulse will provide detailed analysis of the way patients feel about their personal healthcare experience and the system as a whole.”

“With our capacity to explore the evolving trends regarding the healthcare experience via PX Pulse it has become evident as we move through this COVID-19 crisis globally that the essence of the human experience at the heart of healthcare has never been more important,” said Jason Wolf, PhD, CPXP, President & CEO of The Beryl Institute. “As the data reveal, even in times of crisis, the way in which people are treated, how they are communicated with and the overall experience – quality, safety and service – they are provided is foundational to healthcare and continues to drive their choices, priorities and expectations. In fact, it may never be more important than today.”

Key Findings

• 
  Consumers are reporting fewer visits to primary care providers (-9%), hospitals (-4%), specialist providers (-13%), and labs (-14%) compared to the previous survey in January.
• Despite lower engagement in healthcare activities and the spread of COVID-19, consumers are more positive about overall healthcare quality (+13%) and their own care experiences (+7%) compared to January.
• Cost remains the most important healthcare issue for consumers. The top 3 issues include affordable health insurance coverage, out-of-pocket costs, and the cost of health insurance premiums.
• Reducing the threat of infectious diseases (+7%), communication with patients/families (+6%), and quality of hospital care (+5%) emerged as issues more important to consumers this quarter compared to the last quarter.

The full survey results can be found here: https://www.theberylinstitute.org/PXPULSE

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ABOUT THE PX PULSE SURVEY

The Beryl Institute – Ipsos PX Pulse represents a first of its kind effort to elevate understanding of the current perspectives on patient experience in U.S. healthcare.

This effort will regularly capture healthcare consumer perspectives of patient experience in the United States, determine the practices and processes that have the greatest impact and influence on healthcare consumers, and track how the market sees patient experience evolving over time.

More information about the core questions that will be tracked each quarter is attached.

About The Beryl Institute:

The Beryl Institute is the global community of practice committed to elevating the human experience* in healthcare. We believe human experience is grounded in experiences of patients & families, those who work in healthcare and the communities they serve. We define the patient experience as the sum of all interactions, shaped by an organization’s culture, that influence patient perceptions across the continuum of care.

ABOUT IPSOS

Ipsos is the third largest social science and market research firm in the world, with offices in 89 countries and over 18,000 employees who are passionately curious about people, markets, brands, and society. We have more than 30 years of experience working with physicians, hospitals, payers, brokers, and healthcare organizations on improving healthcare quality, increasing accountability, and advising on new and emerging health policy issues.

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FREDERICK, Md. (PRWEB)
April 20, 2020

The Community Foundation of Frederick County announces its third round of COVID-19 emergency relief grants totaling $160,500 to local nonprofits, bringing its combined total of emergency grantmaking to $285,500. These new grants were made possible through Our Heavenly Cause Foundation, Truist Foundation, and Mr. and Mrs. Howard Levine.

COVID-19 emergency relief grant from Our Heavenly Cause Foundation will be provided to:

• 
  Blessings in a Backpack: $16,300 for distribution of non-perishable food to Frederick County children in need.
• The City of Frederick, Department of Economic Development: $10,000 for emergency financial assistance for small businesses severely impacted by COVID-19, such as rent, mortgage, and utility expenses.
• Heartly House: $27,740 for a new phone system that will better serve survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and child abuse by ensuring hotline service access.
• Claggett Center: $17,500 to support a non-congregate quarantine and isolation shelter for Frederick County first-responders and healthcare workers.
• YMCA of Frederick County: $15,000 to support childcare sites for children of first-responders, healthcare workers, and essential employees.

Other COVID-19 emergency relief grants will be provided to:

• Advocates for Homeless Families: $6,300 for utility and maintenance expenses to assist unemployed households in its transitional housing program.
• Boys & Girls Club of Frederick County: $15,000 for essential staff and general operating expenses.
• Brunswick Main Street: $10,000 for its emergency micro-grant program to provide financial assistance to existing downtown businesses.
• Frederick Arts Council: $5,210 for essential staff and general operating expenses.
• Goodwill Industries of Monocacy Valley: $3,000 to support its job development and coaching programs for persons with disabilities.
• Maryland Ensemble Theatre: $2,000 for essential staff and general operating expenses.
• Mental Health Association of Frederick County: $12,450 for continuity of services related to its COVID-19 response.
• Second Chances Garage: $10,000 for essential staff and general operating expenses.
• Student Homelessness Initiative Partnership of Frederick County (SHIP): $5,000 for hotel stays for homeless families unable to access other family shelters.
• The Arc of Frederick County: $5,000 for essential staff and general operating expenses.

This funding is part of the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Campaign to support nonprofits that directly help those adversely affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The campaign is led by the COVID Collaborative, which consists of the Community Foundation, United Way of Frederick County, Ausherman Family Foundation, Delaplaine Foundation, Inc., Helen J. Serini Foundation, Women’s Giving Circle of Frederick County, The Kahlert Foundation, William E. Cross Foundation, The Mark and Susan Butt Saturday Mornings Fund, and others. These organizations are working together to respond quickly and decisively to local nonprofits’ needs.

As a leader in grant and scholarship funding, The Community Foundation of Frederick County has given back more than $64 million to the community since 1986. To learn more about the Community Foundation, visit http://www.FrederickCountyGives.org.

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Inspired eLearning launches new Coronavirus security awareness training course.

“There has been a dramatic increase in coronavirus scams and phishing attempts,” said John Trest, Chief Learning Officer, “we felt it was crucial to put a COVID-19 specific security awareness course out quickly to help organizations identify and defend themselves against these new threats.”

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (PRWEB)
April 20, 2020

Saying the world has been impacted by the Coronavirus would be an understatement. It’s completely changed everything we thought we knew, from our level of preparedness to how we will assess risk for years to come.

The only thing we still know for sure is wherever there’s risk, there’s uncertainty, and wherever there’s uncertainty, there’s opportunity for the nefarious.

Last month Inspired eLearning announced the launch of our Working Remotely Solution to help organizations adapt to the rapid change brought on by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Now, in line with our mission to help organizations keep Security Awareness top of mind, and further defend against the relentless types of cyber threats that can occur outside the office, we’re introducing our new course Coronavirus Phishes & Scams.

This new course ensures your team is staying one step ahead of cybercriminals by teaching learners to recognize the current patterns and elements of coronavirus-based phishing attacks and scams and providing best practices on how to avoid falling victim to traps by staying cyber secure.

“There has been a dramatic increase in cyber criminals trying to take advantage of the current crisis with coronavirus scams and phishing attempts,” said John Trest, Chief Learning Officer, “Thus, we felt it was crucial to put a COVID-19 specific security awareness course out quickly to help people and organizations identify and defend themselves against these new threats. Used in conjunction with our coronavirus phishing simulations, this course will help learners safely navigate through this current threat landscape.”

This new course ensures your team is staying ahead of cybercriminals with topics covering:

• 
  Stop the Spread
• What’s going on
• What can I do?
• Scams & Fake Apps
• Best Practices
• Beware the “Infodemic”

For additional details on Inspired eLearning’s Award-Winning Security Awareness Training, including more information on how you can add this course, visit: https://inspiredelearning.com/security-awareness/covid-19/

About Inspired eLearning:

Inspired eLearning delivers powerful enterprise-level security awareness education and anti-phishing software to organizations of all shapes and sizes. Their award-winning courses combine high-quality content and simulations that delight employees and provide organizations with the educational reinforcement tools they need to adopt practicable cybersecurity habits. Inspired eLearning’s courses and videos are produced by an in-house team of highly experienced instructional designers and multimedia developers who use the latest methodologies in adult learning theory to create compelling content, making Inspired eLearning’s security awareness platform the most effective and most awarded in the industry.

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“Tackling the pandemic requires data and information to ensure that policies, resources and technology are deployed in the right place and time to make the biggest possible impact,” said Vera Songwe, ECA Executive Secretary.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PRWEB)
April 20, 2020

Addis Ababa, 20 April 2020 (joint press release)- The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD) have unveiled an initiative to strengthen Africa’s data ecosystems in the face of COVID-19.

“Tackling the pandemic requires data and information to ensure that policies, resources and technology are deployed in the right place and time to make the biggest possible impact,” said Vera Songwe, ECA Executive Secretary. Ms. Songwe noted, however, that data systems for health and other areas of policy in Africa are often fragile and frequently inadequate.

“Critical gaps in coverage and timeliness can leave governments uncertain of where the risks of infection are highest and how to deploy resources in the most effective way,” she added.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused untold suffering, disrupted billions of lives, and endangered the global economy. Wealthy countries have been worst affected thus far, but as the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data’s CEO, Claire Melamed, explains, the vulnerability of low-income countries is more alarming.

“The lack of adequate shelter, sanitation, and health systems in low and lower-middle-income countries puts us at the precipice of the worst humanitarian crisis in 100 years. Getting timely, accurate data to get the pandemic under control in Africa is critical for the success of global efforts, and will help build strong data systems for the long term,” said Ms. Melamed.

Over the past few years, development partners have helped to build the foundations of robust data ecosystems that can respond to crises like this. As a result, there are multitudes of tested, scalable solutions that can be deployed, and a range of institutions contributing to data-driven decision-making that can expedite the fight against COVID-19.

Areas where better data can save lives during COVID-19 include: population – understanding who is most at risk, to allocate resources effectively; health infrastructure and staffing; virus monitoring; and tracking the economic impacts, including business closures, the impact on agricultural production, and on trade and public spending, to put in place the right support and avoid long-term devastation.

The ECA-GPSDD partnership will receive capacity support from Data for Now, a coalition of partners that includes United Nations Statistics Division, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the World Bank along with GPSDD.

The group will work in a coordinated and coherent manner with partners from the private sector, civil society, academia, donors, governments, the UN, and multilateral agencies, to:

Put tested solutions to work, bringing together the right partners to understand what data and solutions are needed, make them available, and ensure they are used to save lives.

Strengthen systems by ensuring new solutions are sustainable and can be maintained for the long-term by increasing interoperability between data sets and developing capacity among users to understand and work with data for policymaking.

Increase the effective use of resources by targeting areas where data gaps are most acute and minimize duplication

Share learning and information among partners and countries for quick adoption and replication of effective solutions.

The initiative, which was officially announced in a virtual press briefing on 20 April 2020, is seeking more collaboration in the areas of access to relevant data, analytics and visualization, training and capacity development, technology and connectivity, and financial resources.

NOTES TO EDITORS

For more information visit the Africa UN Knowledge Hub for COVID-19: https://knowledge.uneca.org/covid19/

Emerging partnerships include the following – more details available on Monday 20 April:

ESRI is supporting its users and the community at large with location intelligence, geographic information system (GIS) and mapping software, services, and materials that people are using to help monitor, manage, and communicate the impact of the outbreak. Technology donations are available to all organizations to support the rapid deployment of COVID-19 solution platforms. Multiple data sources can be integrated into a single platform to give governments the information they need. Esri is already working in over 15 countries in Africa such as Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Kenya, with plans to expand across the region according to need.”

More info:

https://www.esri.com/en-us/covid-19/overview

https://www.africageoportal.com/pages/covid-19-response

FLOWMINDER is providing telecommunications companies and other holders of mobile operator data with instructions, code, and support via covid19.flowminder.org, enabling them to produce analyses of population mobility in close to real time. Flowminder can offer support in up to 20 countries in the region, to ensure that governments can make data-informed decisions by monitoring mobility and effects of the crisis on population dynamics.

FRAYM is using advanced machine learning models to combine satellite imagery with geo-tagged household survey data, producing local (down to 1km^2) population data for developing countries, even in remote areas. They have COVID-19 risk-factor data available, including health, behavior, and livelihood indicators, in seven African countries, with three more in the pipeline, and will consider other requests. More info: https://fraym.io/

UK Office of National Statistics and DFID data science hub will provide pro-bono COVID-19-specific technical support from a team of data scientists and software developers, with a blend of skills across epidemiology, NLP, GIS, Earth observation, mobile phone data, data engineering, and software development, with a strong focus on methods to track economic indicators in real time. They can conduct analysis, mentor staff, and provide advice on data sources and tools for automating routine manual data processing, and also provide training to ensure skills transfer. The focus will be on 17 countries where DFID support is concentrated. More info: https://datasciencecampus.ons.gov.uk/

GRID3 provides technical expertise in producing spatial data on population, settlements, boundaries, and health infrastructures, working with governments to create a comprehensive and up to date picture to inform decision-making. They are already working in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, South Sudan, Zambia, and Burkina Faso, and plan to expand to 10 more countries in Africa to support COVID-19 response. More info: https://grid3.org/

Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School Of Global Management, The College Of Health Solutions And The Edson College Of Nursing And Health Innovation are working with the Ministry of Health in Kenya and other partners to curate content for training health professionals in Kenya/Africa for frontline personnel in the health facilities as well as those in leadership positions during this crisis. The team is able to create content for use across multiple platforms including mobile phones as needed. https://thunderbird.asu.edu/

Dalberg will support the Covid-19 response with advice, co-ordination, networks, data, and geo-spatial analysis. Ongoing efforts range from developing strategies to mitigate the economic and social side-effects of the Covid-19 pandemic to hands-on support for cash-transfer programmes and the development of vulnerability maps. https://www.dalberg.com/

Digital Impact Alliance (Dial) will provide openly-licensed, editable resources to help governments and intermediary organizations use mobile data for pandemic response, with initial information coming next week that will be available on our website (http://www.digitalimpactalliance.org). DIAL and its technical partners will also provide technical expertise to over 10 African countries on the use of open source tools to analyze mobile data to support decision-making for combating Covid19. DIAL has released a resource document that outlines messaging platforms and an online catalog that provides more information on mobile aggregators in Sub-Saharan Africa to help governments get public health messages out to citizens in a quick and streamlined way.

ABOUT THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DATA

The Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data is a global network including governments, businesses, and civil society organizations working around the world to harness the data revolution for sustainable development. Since it was created in 2015, the Global Partnership has elevated data issues at a political level, launched a multi-million-dollar Collaborative Data Innovations for Sustainable Development funding initiative, and supported the advancement of country-led Data Roadmaps for Sustainable Development. Learn more at http://www.data4sdgs.org

ABOUT THE UN ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA

Established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (UN) in 1958 as one of the UN’s five regional commissions, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s (ECA’s) mandate is to promote the economic and social development of its member states, foster intraregional integration and promote international cooperation for Africa’s development. ECA is made up of 54 member states and plays a dual role as a regional arm of the UN and as a key component of the African institutional landscape. For more information, visit https://www.uneca.org/.

Jointly issued by: The Economic Commission for Africa and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data