COVID-19

The following blog has been written by Shikha Singhal, Axtria’s People Practices leader. Shikha is passionate about building positive workplaces that exude success, happiness, and pride. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has endeavored to ensure Axtrians remain productive, motivated, engaged, and connected.

There is no denying that these are unprecedented times, times of high stress, and uncertainty across the globe. Unemployment rates are at an all-time high. There is vast distress resulting from delayed or deferred decisions and processes – be it in hiring or onboarding or performance appraisals. The pandemic is forcing businesses across the globe to slow down with the consequent impact on employee morale and overall workplace culture.

Rid your binge-watching boredom through artificial intelligence and machine learning – a leading cause of the pharmaceutical industry's best innovations and advancements.

As the projected weeks in quarantine rapidly rise, the amount of absorbable content in your queue is likely dwindling. With not much left to consume, now is the time to indulge yourself in all the titles from our list of the top seven artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) content pieces that your brain can muster. After all, AI/ML innovations are leading the future healthcare landscape for faster, more efficient data analysis and commercial business operations, which in turn improve healthcare physician (HCP) engagement and drive better patient outcomes.

The healthcare industry finds itself at the center of the coronavirus crisis, especially in terms of how patient care is managed and delivered. Meanwhile, most other companies are fathoming the reality of operating in the current uncertain and virtual world. Teladoc, a telehealth provider app in the US, reported 100,000 visits in seven days in March and a 24% increase in respiratory diagnosis compared to a year ago.¹ Visits to doctors' offices have gone virtual. The latest data reflects continued growth in total retail prescriptions relative to 2019. Patients aged 65-plus show both sharp increases in prescription demand and continued therapy rates in recent weeks,¹ driven by the need to stock-up on their prescriptions.

"When you control the supply of medicines, you control the world."

Rosemary Gibson
Senior Advisor to the Hastings Center, a US-based Bioethics Research Institute and author of
the book, China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America's Dependence on China for Medicine.

As of April 20, there are 2,440,528 confirmed coronavirus cases and 167,592 deaths globally. Currently, the U.S. continues as the hardest-hit country in the world, with 749,666 total cases – 238,831 of which are in the current epicenter, New York. In deciding timelines for reopening economies, officials from affected countries, including Italy, Spain, China, and the U.S., are relying on AI/ML-powered predictive models to determine next best actions. Given the unpredictability and rapidly-changing pandemic climate, AI/ML is necessary to overcome COVID-19 eventually.