Dear John,

Join us Wednesday, May 22, for our next virtual Journal Club featuring a closer look into a paper from our upcoming issue with a focus on COVID-19 policies.

Author Christopher Hoover will discuss efforts to improve COVID-19 vaccination rates and reduce cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in prioritized communities with Leslie Erdelack.

In a Health Policy brief released today, Amy Sheon of Case Western Reserve University and Elaine Khoong of the University of California San Francisco write about the linkages between digital inclusion and health equity. 

Digital inclusion determines access to health care services and jobs and shapes educational attainment. 

Digital inclusion also overlaps with structural disparities. Evidence suggests that “neighborhood internet subscription rates vary by historic redlining status,” and that financial barriers shape digital exclusion.

Khoong and Sheon outline four pillars of digital inclusion, including “available, affordable high-speed internet service; devices; digital skills and training; and applications, online content, and technical support.”

The researchers call for increased investments in broadband infrastructure and the development of digital policy that includes the health sector.

More Recent Health Policy Briefs

• Water Insecurity And Population Health: Implications For Health Equity And Policy by Lara J. Cushing et al.
• The Rise And Fall Of Underemployment: Implications For Workers' Health by Lonnie Golden and Jaeseung Kim
• Energy Insecurity And Health: America’s Hidden Hardship by Diana Hernández

Lessons From Oregon’s Attempt To Strengthen The 'Corporate Practice Of Medicine' Ban

Hayden Rooke-Ley and Erin C. Fuse Brown

Require Hospitals To Disclose Their Pandemic Plans Now

Regina E. Herzlinger et al.

On May 9, Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil will be joined by the current National Coordinator, Micky Tripathi, and several of his predecessors for a look back at the achievements of the ONC on electronic health records, interoperability, meaningful use, and a look forward at the opportunities and challenges ahead in health information technology, including harnessing artificial intelligence, improving data analytics, and expanding digital health.

The current list of participants is:

• Micky Tripathi (2021- ), National Coordinator for Health IT

• David Brailer (2004-2006), Chief Medical Officer, The Cigna Group

• Rob Kolodner (2006- 2009), Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, ViTel Net

• David Blumenthal (2009-2011), Professor of the Practice of Public Health and Health Policy, Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health

• Karen DeSalvo (2014-2016), Chief Health Officer, Google

• Donald Rucker (2017-2021), Chief Strategy Officer, 1upHealth

Health Affairs is launching its second annual You’re A Health Policy Wonk If… contest!

The premise is simple. Finish the statement “You’re A Health Policy Wonk If…”

Besides honor, the first-place winner will receive a free online journal subscription for a year.

Submit by May 31.

Check out last year's submissions to get inspired before submitting your entry!