Presenter: Syra Madad, Senior Director, System-wide Special Pathogens Program Office, NYC Health and Hospitals

What has the COVID-19 pandemic revealed about how our healthcare system handles rapid and large health threats, like other pandemics or natural disasters? Hospital systems have been overwhelmed by the number of people coming into emergency departments. Often, however, many people are not sick; they need a test or a question answered, and have nowhere else to go. One of the biggest challenges to protecting a large population against a rapid and large health threat is not necessarily the disease or injury that results; it is fighting misinformation that blooms alongside. Misinformation about a health threat is itself a core public health challenge that requires a focused strategy and specific solutions. How can tools like MyChart (an electronic medical records system) do more than send information out; how can it enable healthcare providers to answer individualized questions and inoculate the population against misinformation? How do we keep patient information private and safe? How could artificial intelligence, data science, and behavioral scientists use these tools to safely reduce the patient load on clinics?