The United States Needs A Better Testing Playbook For Future Public Health Emergencies.

The absence of a comprehensive national playbook for developing and deploying testing has hindered the United States' ability to rapidly suppress recent biological emergencies (for example, the COVID-19 pandemic and outbreaks of mpox). We describe here the Testing Playbook for Biological Emergencies, a national testing playbook we developed. It includes a set of decisions and actions for US officials to take at specific times during infectious disease emergencies to implement testing rapidly and to ensure that available testing meets clinical and public health needs.

Structuring the patient-physician encounter: Joint creation of an actionable roadmap to health.

The patient׳s experiences and costs related to their care are largely dictated by each patient-physician interaction along the continuum of care. However, the amount of time that a physician spends with a patient creating a medical action plan is highly variable and often not related to the severity or complexity of the patient׳s condition. Adding a structured process to guide and inform patient-physician encounters, including outlining expectations and follow-up by both sides is needed.

The business value and cost-effectiveness of genomic medicine.

Genomic medicine offers the promise of more effective diagnosis and treatment of human diseases. Genome sequencing early in the course of disease may enable more timely and informed intervention, with reduced healthcare costs and improved long-term outcomes. However, genomic medicine strains current models for demonstrating value, challenging efforts to achieve fair payment for services delivered, both for laboratory diagnostics and for use of molecular information in clinical management.

Realizing the promise of personalized medicine.

Scientific advances have begun to give doctors the power to customize therapy for individuals. However, adoption of this approach has progressed slowly and unevenly because the trial-and-error treatment model still governs how the health care system develops, regulates, pays for, and delivers therapies. Aspinall, the president of Genzyme Genetics, and Hamermesh, chair of a Harvard Business School initiative to improve leadership in health care organizations, discuss the barriers to personalized medicine and suggest ways to overcome them.