A Crash Course in Innovation: Reflections from the COVID-19 Pandemic

The pandemic may have reshaped healthcare, but lessons learned from this once-in-a-lifetime experience will help Penn Medicine move into the future, stronger, wiser and better poised to lead.

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in unprecedented change. Around the world and across Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Health System , health care providers navigated the unknown and learned many lessons about the power of ingenuity along the way.

There were difficult days and devastating losses, but health care workers also found a path to hope. At Penn Medicine, doctors and investigators played key roles in advancing treatments and research. In fact, the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine was built on technology created in our labs nearly two decades ago.

Today, the federal declaration naming COVID-19 a public health emergency expires, marking another milepost in the journey. This action doesn’t mean the end of COVID-19 or the priority placed on stopping the virus’ spread, but it does signal a transition from emergency response operations.

In the communities Penn Medicine serves, daily reported cases of COVID-19 infection are down by approximately 90% and new hospitalizations have decreased by more than 80%. The road to this success has been filled with ups and downs, late nights and long shifts.

As health care organizations look ahead, there is still much work to do. Too many people were lost in this health crisis, which continues to claim about 1,000 lives each week nationwide.

At Penn Medicine, we will continue to push on, whether through efforts to further halt the spread of COVID-19, speed discovery or strengthen clinical care. As always, our focus remains on helping people live longer, healthier lives.

The pandemic offered a crash course in innovation, and this education has set us on a path that will define health care for the future.

• The creation of COVID Watch showed the power of technological connections. This one mobile app allowed Penn Medicine to bridge care for thousands. As a result, we reduced the burden on the health system, while also offering real-time monitoring to patients in the comfort of their homes.
• During the first six weeks of the pandemic, the Cancer Care at Home program was scaled by 700%, reaching 3,000 patients in eight states. Now, more than half of all outpatient chemotherapy and infusions delivered by Penn Medicine occur in the patient’s home.
• The pandemic is also changing the framework for how Penn Medicine approaches screenings for breast cancer and colon cancer among communities of color that have traditionally faced a host of structural and social barriers to care. Mammography vans and distribution events for take-home colon cancer screening kits are moving treatment from the hospital setting directly to neighborhoods.

Throughout it all, the institution became more flexible and resourceful, rethinking decades-old approaches to medicine. Without a doubt, we also learned a lot about ourselves and the importance of resilience and teamwork.

This global health crisis may have taught tough lessons, but the takeaways are helping Penn Medicine move into the future, stronger, wiser and better poised to lead medicine for the generations to come.