Almost everything now is seen through the lens of COVID-19, from work to entertainment to family. Perhaps the most impacted is healthcare itself.
In March of 2020 Arizona healthcare providers and systems had to dramatically adapt to the fear that the Coronavirus would develop into the next 1918 Spanish Flu. Lacking PPE, most healthcare providers quickly transformed to provide telehealth or closed their doors. We knew the workplace was going to change forever. And, as a healthcare business serving Arizona companies for the past 18 years, I knew we had a job to do.
Businesses faced challenges to keeping their employees healthy and working, and the healthcare community has played a critical role in helping keep business operating. For instance, our team at Healthcare Solutions Centers worked more efficiently with technology, offering 24/7 telehealth and COVID testing, tracking and tracing, while monitoring those employees who were at home quarantined, only returning them to work when healthy and safe.
Arizona companies are looking for answers from healthcare professionals to keep their doors open for business. Fast forward to March 2021, with vaccines being accessible to everyone aged 16 and older, and the availability of same-day rapid COVID Antigen testing, business owners are working to keep their employees healthy and at work. There is no question healthcare is changing.
The cover story this month is an extensive section that dives into multiple facets of healthcare, of healthcare delivery, of healthcare as an employee benefit — and includes coordinated articles on COVID testing, disparities that exist in healthcare delivery, and an Arizona success story about the state’s Surge Line.
COVID’s impact on meetings has injected a new term into our English lexicon: Zoom fatigue. But, as Carlos Valdes-Dapena discusses in feature article “Stop Meeting and Start Co-Creating,” there is more underlying the problems with meetings that pre-dates the pandemic. He suggests an overhaul in the structure of meetings, and even a case-by-case evaluation of whether one is needed at all.
Feedback, on the other hand, looks this month at ways physically distanced co-workers may “come together” as companies purposely create opportunities to increase employee engagement.
Buchalter attorneys Quinn C. Wheeler and Khaled Tarazi discuss the use of e-signatures in closing commercial loan transactions in this business environment of social distancing and work from home.
And the Roundtable feature takes a hard look at leadership ethics amid the public’s flagging faith in corporate purpose.
Along with the usual varied mix of topics from technology to HR, from what’s new for lunch to what’s new in the business community, and from commercial real estate to companies going the extra mile for their community, this issue includes the special “Guide to Workplace Health & Safety” spotlighting products and services businesses need now.
Just as my mission is to help people be healthy, In Business Magazine’s mission is to help ensure the health of our business community, and it is my pleasure to help bring this April edition to you. Enjoy the read.
Sincerely,
Frances Ducar
President and Owner
Healthcare Solutions Centers
Frances Ducar is the founder and president of Healthcare Solutions Centers, LLC, where she developed and leads a team of talented and dedicated medical providers who will provide client companies with the highest quality of medical care while reducing their overall healthcare cost.
Ducar graduated from Arizona State University, UCLA and University of Phoenix, all with first honors, and is a member of Sigma Theta Tau. She is a Certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a Registered Nurse First Assistant.
