Remember the start of 2020? The news at that time was largely filled with debate about climate change and Greta Thunberg’s passionate messaging, Australia’s raging fires, the rise of populist political leaders and the challenges of a dividing European Union. It’s hard to believe that was just eight months ago. At that time, most of us probably didn’t give much thought to the emerging novel coronavirus, which was already impacting those in the Wuhan province of China.
It’s now more than 150 days since most of us last waved goodbye to our offices, and it’s tough to say how much longer we’ll be working from our kitchen tables, spare bedrooms and home offices. Essentially, everything has changed.
Remote work environments and physical distancing have created a global appetite for innovative ways to connect with others and converse with colleagues, loved ones and friends. Regardless of where we are in the world, there’s a desire to make the miles, distance and time zones less of a barrier.
COVID-19 has encouraged us all to be more globally aware while also focusing on the risks close at hand in our local communities. Living through this period of upheaval provides us with stories, both evidenced and anecdotal.
The perspectives and experiences of those in the many countries where Cerner operates differ greatly. They depend on the actions or inactions of those around us, our leaders, health systems and governments.
I, along with Dr. Colin Fincham, senior director and chief medical officer for Cerner's non-U.S. markets, will be bringing you some of these perspectives from different health care leaders across the globe in a series of podcasts in the coming weeks. These podcasts will highlight the impact COVID-19 has brought – or has yet to bring – to their respective regions. Tune in to hear how the pandemic thrust health care providers around the world into an unprecedented pace of change. Learn how the global health care community quickly adapted and found creative uses of technology and data and accelerated the demand for analytics, intelligence and research.
The series will kick off with an overview of Cerner’s international response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the experiences in countries where very different approaches were adopted to contain and manage the virus.
During the series, we’ll hear from Dr. Monica Trujillo, who will share the results of Australia’s lockdown, and Carolina Wallenius, general manager for Cerner Sweden, who will talk with us about Sweden’s less stringent approach to virus control and the long-term outlook.
As the series progresses, we’ll highlight personal experiences from Cerner associates outside the U.S. and also provide some insight into the changes, lessons learned and opportunities for the health care industry caused by the pandemic.
Podcast episodes coming soon!
Ep. 1: Cerner’s global reach
Ep. 2: Australia’s lockdown
Ep. 3: Sweden’s approach
Cerner is dedicated to helping our clients solve challenging issues around COVID-19 at speed and scale. Learn more here.
