Healthcare During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID pandemic has profoundly disrupted U.S. healthcare. Despite rapid rollout of safe and effective vaccines, the pandemic has strained the healthcare delivery system to the breaking point at times. An estimated 1 million Americans have died from COVID, and by any measure—cases, hospitalizations, and deaths—people of color have fared worse, underscoring longstanding structural and systemic inequities facing marginalized communities. At the same time, the pandemic has spurred innovations in care delivery, particularly telehealth and remote patient monitoring.
 

Our Work

AIR leverages our expertise in data analysis, technical assistance, human-centered design and stakeholder engagement to understand disparities associated with COVID-19 morbidity and mortality and support hospitals serving vulnerable populations.

Our work includes efforts to improve the performance of approximately 300 small and rural hospitals by assessing quality measures, supporting pandemic response and preparedness, and identifying and disseminating best practices through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospital Quality Improvement Contractor initiative. AIR also assists the National Institutes of Health with the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) Coordination and Data Collection Center (CDCC) in an effort to reduce disparities for underserved and vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic.