Digitalize Work in Health Organization during pandemic Covid-19

Covid-19 has impacted many aspects of daily life. The behaviors of organizations had to adopt this evolution. The Covid-19 emergency has put Smart Working at the center of attention. Working remotely made it possible to cope with the limitations due to the current health emergency while guaranteeing business continuity. This new intelligent mode is increasingly leading to the spread of autonomous, subjective and decentralized forms of work. Technological progress offers rapid access to information and reduces space-time constraints. Modern technologies put at the service of a new way of working, as experienced during the pandemic, allow the worker to manage the organization of space and the execution time of his employment in complete autonomy. On this basis, the work in progress study seeks to provide useful information to improve practices in the field of smart work, to better investigate the phenomenon in the healthcare sector, a field that has not been explored and debated in the literature

Digital (Re)Evolution In An Italian Public Administration: Some Implications In Pandemic Era

Nowadays, the COVID-19 pandemic condition has generated an acceleration of change in public administration. The challenges around the COVID‐19 pandemic have further spurred public organizations into action by increasing their awareness of the need to accelerate digital transformation. The digital revolution in public administration is defined as e-government . The context of public administration appears to be increasingly complex and requires skills able to better manage the digital transformation under-way. The role of the Human Resources Manager, in this particular historical phase, in which the work is digitalized, is transformed. The figure of the Human Resources Manager (HR Manager) overlaps with that of the Chief Digital Officier (CDO). In recent years, the role of the Chief Digital Officer has emerged and attracted scholars’ attention. However, the role of the CDO is still in its nascent and not well-defined stages, the role means different things for different organizations. On this basis, the main objective of the research is understanding if the HR manager is also a CDO in this historical phase in public organizations; trying to understand if the CDO is going to play the role of change agent in these organizations. This study is based on qualitative analysis

Knowledge Transfer in Doctoral Education During the Pandemic Time: An Exploratory Study of the PhD Students’ Experiences

The research aims to explore how PhD students interacted with professors and peers and transferred knowledge during pandemic time. We firstly aim to provide an overview of communication media used by students, as well as to classify them for different kinds, social presence, and media richness. Furthermore, our research also aims to explore how doctoral students took their courses by interacting with professors and with peers, in terms of learning (KT) and social exchange relations (LMX, TMX, POS), through online learning platforms and communication media. We conducted exploratory research on 25 PhD students from 5 Italian PhD Programs in ‘economic and statistical sciences’ area. Data was collected through (a) the focus group interview with PhD students for collecting their opinions and experiences on the usage of media for communicating with professors and peers and (b) an online questionnaire aimed to measure their experiences or perceptions on technology usage and social relations. Results shown that PhD students used e-learning platform for communicating with peers and professors, so developing good social relations -even at a distance- which have encouraged knowledge transfer among them

Knowledge management in virtual community: some implications in COVID-19 pandemic

To reduce the COVID-19 contagion, the organizations have had to implement new organizational models based on the technology intensive, social distance and the reduction of face-to-face contacts. These conditions have led to the creation of virtual communities. A Virtual Community (VC) can be defined as a social entity which, using ICT, allows the sharing and transfer of knowledge between members of the community, bridging the geographical distance. VC are based on a Human-Device-Human interaction. For this reason, VC are based on the continuous and active participation of members, a rapid access to shared knowledge and reciprocity of information. Also in the healthcare sector, there has been the creation of VC. A VC in the healthcare sector aims to share knowledge related to the delivery of health services, provide support and discuss problems related to health and treatment, share documents and consult doctors. Few studies have focused on the VC in the healthcare sector, from the perspective of knowledge management. This study aims to identify and understand the elements of the VC in the healthcare sector. An explorative-qualitative methodology was used. Mobile applications (M-apps) created by public authorities in Italy were analyzed. The results highlighted that the VC, through the M-apps, is a complex system characterized by a reciprocal relationship between the members. Some aspects, such as trust and functionality of the M-app and speed of response, can allow the success of the virtual community. M-apps are a useful tool for KM and enable to support healthcare sector

Navigating within the Digitalization Journey: Results and Implications of the First Maturity Assessment of German Public Health Agencies

The Covid 19 pandemic revealed the need for Public Health Agencies to mature digitally. To help those agencies with their digitalization endeavor, a public health agency maturity model (PHAMM) has been developed, evaluated, and employed by 366 institutions to determine their digital maturity and to prior-itize actions within digitalization projects. This paper discusses the digital ma-turity of German public health institutions and derives first insights into compo-nents spanning the PHAMM dimensions. Public health agencies can use these components to leverage their digital maturity in future digitalization projects. Im-plications are discussed for how digitalization projects with an enhanced impact can be defined and for future maturity modeling research

Reconstruction of the heart and the aorta for radical resection of lung cancer

Introduction: We report a single-center experience of resection and reconstruction of the heart and aorta infiltrated by lung cancer in order to prove that involvement of these structures is no longer a condition precluding surgery. Methods: Twenty-seven patients underwent surgery for lung cancer presenting full-thickness infiltration of the heart (n = 6) or the aorta (n = 18) and/or the supra-aortic branches (subclavian n = 3). Cardiac reconstruction was performed in 6 patients (5 atrium, 1 ventricle), with (n = 4) or without (n = 2) cardiopulmonary bypass, using a patch prosthesis (n = 4) or with deep clamping and direct suture (n = 2). Aortic or supra-aortic trunk reconstruction (n = 21) was performed using a heart-beating crossclamping technique in 14 cases (8 patch, 4 conduit, 2 direct suture), or without crossclamping by placing an endovascular prosthesis before resection in 7 (4 patch, 3 omental flap reconstruction). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was administered in 13 patients, adjuvant therapy in 24. Results: All resections were complete (R0). Nodal staging of lung cancer was N0 in 14 cases, N1 in 10, N2 in 3. No intraoperative mortality occurred. Major complication rate was 14.8%. Thirty-day and 90-day mortality rate was 3.7%. Median follow-up duration was 22 months. Recurrence rate is 35.4% (9/26: 3 loco-regional, 6 distant). Overall 3- and 5-year survival is 60.9% and 40.6%, respectively. Conclusions: Cardiac and aortic resection and reconstruction for full-thickness infiltration by lung cancer can be performed safely with or without cardiopulmonary bypass and may allow long-term survival of adequately selected patients

Seguridad, eficacia y evaluación económica de la implantación de un programa de cribado de aneurisma de aorta abdominal

Aneurisma d'aorta abdominal; Dolor crònic; CribratgeAneurisma de aorta abdominal; Dolor crónico; CribadoAbdominal aortic aneurysm; Chronic pain; ScreeningL’objectiu general d’aquest informe és avaluar l’evidència disponible sobre seguretat, eficàcia clínica i cost-efectivitat de la implantació d’un programa de cribratge de l’AAA mitjançant ecografia abdominal per ultrasons en la població de risc, a més de realitzar una avaluació econòmica, i respondre als criteris del Document marc sobre cribratges poblacionals, amb la condició de valorar la seva inclusió dins de la cartera comuna de serveis del Sistema Nacional de Salut espanyol.El objetivo general de este informe es evaluar la evidencia disponible sobre seguridad, eficacia clínica y coste-efectividad de la implantación de un programa de cribado del AAA mediante ecografía abdominal por ultrasonidos en la población de riesgo, además de realizar una evaluación económica, y responder a los criterios del Documento marco sobre cribados poblacionales, con tal de valorar su inclusión dentro de la cartera común de servicios del Sistema Nacional de Salud español.The general objective of this report is to evaluate the available evidence on safety, clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the implementation of an AAA screening programme, using ultrasound abdominal ultrasound in the population at risk. Other objectives are to carry out an economic evaluation, and to respond to the criteria of the Framework document on population screening, in order to assess its inclusion in the common portfolio of services of the Spanish National Health System

Genetic effects on gene expression across human tissues

Characterization of the molecular function of the human genome and its variation across individuals is essential for identifying the cellular mechanisms that underlie human genetic traits and diseases. The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project aims to characterize variation in gene expression levels across individuals and diverse tissues of the human body, many of which are not easily accessible. Here we describe genetic effects on gene expression levels across 44 human tissues. We find that local genetic variation affects gene expression levels for the majority of genes, and we further identify inter-chromosomal genetic effects for 93 genes and 112 loci. On the basis of the identified genetic effects, we characterize patterns of tissue specificity, compare local and distal effects, and evaluate the functional properties of the genetic effects. We also demonstrate that multi-tissue, multi-individual data can be used to identify genes and pathways affected by human disease-associated variation, enabling a mechanistic interpretation of gene regulation and the genetic basis of diseas

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection