Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1336426
33 INNOVATION Top children's hospitals for tech, innovation by Parents magazine By Laura Dyrda P arents magazine selected 15 children's hos- pitals as the top pediatric healthcare pro- viders for innovation and technology. e publication surveyed 50 children's hospitals and more than 200 innovations to select the top hospitals. Here are the winners and the technolo- gy they're developing: 1. Nationwide Children's Hospital (Columbus, Ohio): Appendectomy alternative 2. Children's Mercy Kansas City (Mo.): A wellness screening device that doesn't require weight 3. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta: Anemia de- tection app 4. Texas Children's Hospital (Houston): Less in- vasive method for fetoscopic spinal bifida surgery 5. Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford (Calif.): Approach to accelerate matching a heart donor with a child who needs a transplant 6. Children's Medical Center at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island: New approach to feeding babies born prematurely to reduce dysphasia 7. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Gene se- quencing for precision medicine in children 8. Dayton (Ohio) Children's Hospital: Pre-op rooms and plans for autistic patients 9. Children's Hospital Los Angeles: Strategies to reduce opioid abuse and family education 10. Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital (Ann Arbor): A handheld genetic sequencing device to monitor tumors 11. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (Mem- phis, Tenn): A system to build immunity in cancer patients 12. Children's Wisconsin (Milwaukee): erapy for children with irritable bowel syndrome 13. UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh: Gene therapy for type 1 diabetes 14. Seattle Children's Hospital: erapies for cancer patients 15. Boston Children's Hospital: Treatment for sickle cell disease n Johns Hopkins creates COVID-19 death risk calculator By Jackie Drees B altimore-based Johns Hopkins University researchers devel- oped an online calculator that estimates the individual and commu- nity-level risk of dying of COVID-19, which could help officials prioritize groups for vaccination. Public health researchers used infor- mation from existing large studies to estimate the risk of COVID-19 mortal- ity for individuals based on age, gen- der, sociodemographic factors and medical history. An algorithm then estimates the risk for individuals in the general population who are currently uninfected as well as factors associ- ated with risk of future infection and complications after infection. The calculator is available online for public health officials and anyone else interested. Users can see how factors such as age, sex and race/eth- nicity can be used to identify the risk of COVID-19 mortality for a specific community, corporation or group. By combining data on individual-level factors with community-level pandem- ic dynamics, the tool can be useful in setting priorities for distributing early COVID-19 vaccines and other scarce preventive resources such as certain personal protective equipment, the re- searchers said. The calculator is updated weekly with state-level COVID-19 data. n What's next for digital transformation in 2021? 7 predictions from Amazon's chief tech officer By Jackie Drees T he COVID-19 pandemic helped pave the way for a significant shift to the digital world, creat- ing new opportunities for tech adop- tion and innovation. In a Dec. 17 company blog post, Am- azon Vice President and Chief Tech- nology Officer Werner Vogels, PhD, explained why he thinks 2021 will be a "launchpad for all kinds of change," and shared seven areas he predicts will drive digital transformation. 1. Cloud computing and storage ca- pabilities will become accessible from nearly everywhere, including rural com- munities and in remote areas such as the wilderness. 2. Adoption of machine learning models across industries will con- tinue to accelerate, building on data advancements that healthcare insti- tutions, scientific researchers, phar- ma companies and the government led in 2020 to keep people healthy during the pandemic. 3. Audio, video and image technol- ogies will increasingly replace key- boards, as consumers will turn to multimedia to communicate. 4. Advanced data analytics will help cities adopt designs that of- fer advantages of social distancing without the sense of feeling apart. Communities will be designed to be healthier and safer rather than denser and more efficient. 5. Remote work and schooling will become more normal options, es- pecially for unforeseen events such as pandemics or natural disasters. 6. Small businesses will increasingly adopt higher-level technologies and advanced cloud platforms to con- nect with their customers. 7. Quantum computing will move beyond just the academic world and start being used more by business plans and in the products and ser- vices market. n