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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) created the Sentinel System in response to a requirement in the FDA Amendments Act of 2007 that the agency establish a system for monitoring risks associated with drug and biologic products using data from disparate sources. The Sentinel System has completed hundreds of analyses, including many that have directly informed regulatory decisions. The Sentinel System also was designed to support a national infrastructure [...]

Natural hazards (NHs) associated with climate change have been increasing in frequency and intensity. These acute events impact humans both directly and through their effects on social and environmental determinants of health. Rather than relying on a fully reactive incident response disposition, it is crucial to ramp up preparedness initiatives for worsening case scenarios. In this perspective, we review the landscape of NH effects for human health and explore the [...]

Healthcare organizations are increasing social determinants of health (SDH) screening and documentation in the electronic health record (EHR). Physicians may use SDH data for medical decision-making and to provide referrals to social care resources. Physicians must be aware of these data to use them, however, and little is known about physicians' awareness of EHR-based SDH documentation or documentation capabilities. We therefore leveraged national physician survey data to measure level of [...]

While many case studies have described the implementation of self-scheduling tools, which allow patients to schedule visits and imaging studies asynchronously online, none have explored the impact of self-scheduling on equitable access to care.1 Using an electronic health record patient portal, University of California San Francisco deployed a self-scheduling tool that allowed patients to self-schedule diagnostic imaging studies. We analyzed electronic health record data for the imaging modalities with the [...]

The lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion continues to hamper the artificial intelligence (AI) field and is especially problematic for healthcare applications. In this article, we expand on the need for diversity, equity, and inclusion, specifically focusing on the composition of AI teams. We call to action leaders at all levels to make team inclusivity and diversity the centerpieces of AI development, not the afterthought. These recommendations take into consideration [...]

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused millions of deaths around the world and revealed the need for data-driven models of pandemic spread. Accurate pandemic caseload forecasting allows informed policy decisions on the adoption of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce disease transmission. Using COVID-19 as an example, we present Pandemic conditional Ordinary Differential Equation (PAN-cODE), a deep learning method to forecast daily increases in pandemic infections and deaths. By [...]

Monkeypox virus was historically rare outside of West and Central Africa until the current 2022 global outbreak, which has required clinicians to be alert to identify individuals with possible monkeypox, institute isolation, and take appropriate next steps in evaluation and management. Clinical decision support systems (CDSS), which have been shown to improve adherence to clinical guidelines, can support frontline clinicians in applying the most current evaluation and management guidance in [...]

Symptom checkers can help address high demand for SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19) testing and care by providing patients with self-service access to triage recommendations. However, health systems may be hesitant to invest in these tools, as their associated efficiency gains have not been studied. We aimed to quantify the operational efficiency gains associated with use of an online COVID-19 symptom checker as an alternative to a telephone hotline.