COVID-19

TraceTogether works by exchanging short-distance Bluetooth signals between phones to detect other participating TraceTogether users in close proximity.  

Early data from the roughly 100,000-participant effort suggest infrequent social distancing and regional behavior disparities (as of March 15).

[Since this article was published, the FDA has released an alert warning that it has not yet authorized any COVID-19 home testing kits]

The recently announced COVID-19 Open Research Dataset consists of more than 29,000 machine-readable coronavirus articles ripe for analysis.

Health systems around the world are using chatbots, drive-through clinics and telemedicine to address the needs of coronavirus patients.

Online mental health support is increasingly important as communities face lockdown and social distancing measures.

Also: Welltok expands to Latin America with insurer partnership; Kyruus and GYANT combine their offerings for health system clients.

The HIMSS Media editors discuss government and healthcare-organization response to the coronavirus, including chatbot services, drive-through testing sites and social-media monitoring.

AIA Singapore, which is part of the largest public listed pan-Asian life insurance group, announced that will cover the costs of 50,000 video medical consultations provided by WhiteCoat, a Singapore-based tele-medicine provider for all its HealthShield Gold Max policyholders.  Individuals who require professional medical advice can engage WhiteCoat's Singapore-registered doctors from the comfort of their own home, exclusively via the AIA Healthcare App. After 50,000 video medical consultations have been utilized by AIA HealthShield Gold Max policyholders in Singapore, they can continue to engage WhiteCoat's services at a pre-negotiated rate of S$12 per consultation. The insurance company also said that it will include the extension of claims pre-authorization to cover all non-emergency admissions and day surgeries at all private hospitals and healthcare providers across Singapore for its HealthShield Gold Max policyholders, effective 15 April 2020. THE LARGER TREND In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that is affecting most parts of the world, many governments and healthcare providers are increasingly looking towards telehealth as a means to manage and triage potential cases of the virus. Healthcare companies and startups have also stepped up to tackle the virus outbreak through their existing software platforms or telehealth capabilities.  In Australia, healthcare software providers such as Global Health are working with GPs who use their PrimaryClinic practice management software to provide telehealth services at low or no cost for their patients, HealthcareITNews reported. In the UK, British company Doctor Care Anywhere (DCA) is introducing a free training program to support GPs in carrying out remote consultations as the NHS continues to see rising demand for services in the coronavirus crisis, according to a MobiHealthNews article. ON THE RECORD "Even as we tackle the immediate challenge of COVID-19, we also need to take steps to manage the longer-term challenge of rising healthcare costs. Pre-authorization was a key recommendation put forth by the Health Insurance Task Force and complements AIA's other efforts such as our panel of AIA Quality Healthcare Partners, and AIA Vitality -- our comprehensive health and wellness program. As an industry leader, we need to help moderate healthcare inflation, and ensure that people have assurance regarding the coverage of their medical costs," said Dr Alan Ong, Medical Director, AIA Singapore in a statement.

First announced by President Trump on Friday as a nationwide resource, the testing-referral service already seems to have reached its capacity among California's Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.