Regenstrief President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Embí, M.D., M.S., discussed the latest developments in the fight against COVID-19 during a live virtual panel hosted by Side Effects Public Media and Indiana Public Broadcasting.
Dr. Embí spoke about the importance of data to inform decisions during the pandemic. He stated that data-driven decisions in Indiana may have helped the State contain the virus, preventing the healthcare system from being overwhelmed. Dr. Embí helped lead the collaborative effort to create a dashboard visualizing hospitalization data across the state, which supplements information from the Indiana State Department of Health. Tracking data is critical to understanding what could potentially happen with the virus and adjusting as things change, he said.
He also highlighted collaboration as a bright spot amid the outbreak. As cases have spread, businesses and organizations from across Indiana have combined resources and skills to work for the benefit of Hoosiers. Dr. Embí spoke about the Indiana Pandemic Information Collaborative which he helped create to bring together businesses, academic institutions, government leaders, healthcare partners and more together to share knowledge and strategies to fight COVID-19.
“When I look at what states like Indiana have been able to achieve and the degree to which people are working together to try to contain this, rallying across all the different sectors and pooling all of our resources, that gives me a lot of hope,” Dr. Embí told the audience.
Dr. Embí also encouraged everyone to continue to wear masks and socially distance.
