Peter Killcommons, MD - Weebly
Social Media
  • Blog
  • About

What Physicians Learned from Hurricane Katrina, By Dr. Peter Killcommons

1/19/2015

0 Comments

 
In August 2005, the United States experienced a major disaster that would have a lasting impact on the delivery of medical services. When Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast, the region’s health care system was already fragmented and overwhelmed. Areas with the poorest residents, such as New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, were more seriously affected by the storm than were more affluent neighborhoods. The Lower Ninth Ward, which was largely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, was near two major medical schools, but had substandard resources on par with those in isolated rural regions. Along the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi, several hundred thousand citizens were displaced from their homes and previous sources of medical care for months.

Doctors also felt the effects of the storm on their lives and businesses. Many lost their own homes and office space, and their medical records were destroyed. Few private physicians had previously obtained business interruption insurance, and even when they had, insurance companies were often slow to pay claims.

In the aftermath of the storm, a few points became clear. Medical professionals and policymakers need to establish a more focused and coordinated delivery system for heath services and to plan for health care needs both before and after a disaster. Physicians should provide optimal levels of patient education and proactively prepare their patients to be full partners in their own health care. Governments, medical professionals, and patients alike need to increasingly make use of mobile medical technology and electronic resources for storing and retrieving records and information. As Hurricane Katrina tragically proved, access to medical information and services can mean the difference between life and death.

About the Author:

Dr. Peter Killcommons is CEO of the San Francisco-based telemedical company Medweb, a leading provider of medical telecommunications services and humanitarian aid in conflict and disaster-stricken regions across the globe, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Haiti. After Hurricane Katrina, Medweb provided support to Touro Hospital in New Orleans.
0 Comments

    Author

    Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Medweb, Dr. Peter Killcommons manages the operations of his company’s numerous divisions in medical imaging and philanthropy. ​

    Tweets by peterkillcommon

    Archives

    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    December 2019
    January 2019
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    March 2013

    Categories

    All
    Aircraft Association
    AIT Congress
    American Telemedicine Association (ATA)
    Asynchronous
    A Telemedicine Solution Company
    Aviation
    City College Of New York Medical College
    Community Outreach
    Digitized Healthcare
    Disaster Medicine And Public Health
    Dr. Pete Killcommons
    Dr. Peter Killcommons
    First Armenian International Congress
    First Armenian International Congress On Telemedicine And EHealth
    First Armenian International Telemedicine Congress
    Grand Challenge
    Hawaii’s Chaminade University
    Healthcare
    Health Care Industry
    Hurricane Katrina
    Information Technology
    IVeH
    Medicine
    Medweb
    Military Families
    New Hampshire
    Pete Killcommons
    Peter Killcommons
    Pilots
    Radiology
    Red River
    San Francisco
    Solar Cells
    Synchronous
    Technology
    Telemedicine
    Teleradiology
    USAID

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.