At the end of December 2019, a medical team made a remarkable discovery using a combination of Baidu search data and satellite imagery of hospital parking lots in Wuhan, China. They identified an unusual increase in searches for terms related to respiratory symptoms, as well as a surge in the number of cars parked at hospitals in the area. 

These findings, through an application called HealthMap, were the earliest indicators of the outbreak of COVID-19, providing critical insights that would ultimately inform the global response to the pandemic.

Today on "Live at ViVE," Dr. Jessica Shepherd and Dr. Gautam Gulati sit down with John Brownstein, the creator of HealthMap, to discuss the potential of tech to improve healthcare and tackle the challenges we face during crises like the pandemic. 

John Brownstein is a Yale-trained epidemiologist who is a professor of biomedical informatics at Harvard Medical School and the Chief Innovation Officer of Boston Children's Hospital. He also co-founded two digital health companies, Epidemico and Circulation Inc. and is the founder of multiple global public health surveillance systems. His creation of HealthMap, the electronic surveillance system which alerts communities of outbreaks, is utilized by public health professionals worldwide.  

John discusses HealthMap and Outbreaks Near Me, a crowdsourcing platform that collects data about symptoms, disease outcomes, and vaccine confidence. He also walks us through his insight into the successes and failures of the pandemic response. 

Listen in as John shares the challenges and opportunities facing healthcare providers in the post-pandemic world and how cutting-edge research and development is helping them prepare for what's to come while shaping the future of medicine. 

Topics Covered

• Hear the inside story of how technology played a crucial role in response to the pandemic to help hospitals scale up rapidly in response to the crisis
• Discover how telemedicine and virtual care are transforming healthcare delivery
• Get insights into how AI is being used to improve clinical decision-making and patient outcomes
• How healthcare organizations are using data analytics to identify trends, predict outbreaks, and optimize care delivery
• The importance of collaboration and knowledge-sharing in healthcare 
• The challenges and opportunities facing healthcare providers in the post-pandemic world— and how they are preparing for the future
• How the cutting-edge research and development happening in healthcare is shaping the future of medicine
• Learn about the personal experiences and insights of healthcare leaders and frontline workers who are at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19

Connect with John Brownstein

John Brownstein on LinkedIn 

Connect with Dr. Gautam Gulati & Dr. Jessica Shepherd 

Dr. Gulati on Twitter 

Dr. Gulati on LinkedIn 

Dr. Shepherd on LinkedIn

Dr. Shepherd on Twitter

Resources

HealthMap 

Outbreaks Near Me

Epidemico

Vaccines.gov 

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 

ViVE