March 11, 2020: The day the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic – and the day the National Basketball Association's (NBA) first player tested positive for the virus.
The NBA took a pause, and to restart its 2019-2020 season, introduced the "Bubble" – a closed campus based in Orlando, Fla., where players would live, practice, play and undergo viral testing for the rest of the season.
Despite the virus' soaring transmission rates at the time, NBA players and team staff impressively managed to dodge new cases. But how did they do it?
Intense planning. The NBA to partnered with IQVIA, BioReference, and researchers from Columbia, Harvard, Yale, and other universities to manage the inflow of daily PCR test results and to conduct rapid analytics to better understand the real-world performance of COVID-19 diagnostics.
The NBA Bubble was able to yield unparalleled protection from the ongoing pandemic, while restarting a global sports league, stimulating the economy by creating over 6,500 jobs and advancing public health and crisis management policies in the U.S. and around the world.
The UNIVANTS of Healthcare Excellence award program honors clinical care teams who embody the principles of unity and avant-garde thinking to achieve extraordinary outcomes for patients, payers, clinicians and health systems. This year, the NBA is recognized as one of three 2022 UNIVANTS of Healthcare Excellence Global Winners, alongside the ROSE Foundation and Ipswich Hospital.
Program ROSE's primary HPV cervical screening has increased access to testing in Malaysia by allowing individuals to self-sample, prioritizing the country's culture of privacy and dignity. Additionally, patients have the ability to follow up and access their data through a secure digital e-health platform available on mobile devices.
In the U.K., Ipswich Hospital enhanced the use of HBA1c – a blood test that shows average glucose levels over time – in patients undergoing surgery with a direct impact on patient wellness, reducing post-surgical complications like wound healing.
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