The Abstract Podcast

Telehealth, contact tracing: How health providers are fighting for a pandemic-free future

In this episode, we discuss the meteoric rise of telehealth and the emotional toll of contact tracing.

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As the Covid-19 crisis continues to evolve, humankind continues to adapt.

When “normal” life came to a screeching halt, we were immediately forced to adjust to a socially distanced world. For many of us, the struggle remains real, but for healthcare workers, learning to adapt is a matter of life and death.

When the virus made a doctor’s visit riskier than ever before, health care providers found new ways to connect with patients. And as infections fluctuate, brave contact tracers track human transmission.

Throughout the pandemic, heroes in medicine and public health have saved lives through Zoom and over the phone, proving even in the darkest times that people find a way to take care of each other.

In this episode of The Abstract, we discuss the meteoric rise of telehealth and the emotional toll of contact tracing.

Our first story is about the meteoric rise of telehealth in the wake of Covid-19. Forced to shake off reservations about seeing patients virtually, many physicians are incorporating telemedicine into their practice, creating a strikingly different future of medicine.

Our second story is about the contact tracers turning a centuries-old public health service into an effective tool to curb the coronavirus pandemic. Using a hybrid of old and new technologies, contact tracers have long been supplying a key ingredient in the tool’s success: empathy.

Read the original Inverse stories:

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Right now, facts and science matter more than ever. That's part of the reason for The Abstract, this all-new podcast from the Inverse staff that focuses exclusively on science and innovation. Three new episodes are released a week, and each covers one theme via two related stories. Each features audio of original Inverse reporting, where the facts and context take center stage. It's hosted by the Tanya Bustos of WSJ Podcasts. Because we're Inverse, it's all true but slightly off-kilter. It's made for people who want to know the whole story. Nick Lucchesi, executive editor, Inverse

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