Medical countermeasures during public health emergencies—Does information sharing among health system coalition help?

Abstract

Challenged by constrained healthcare resources, hospitals encounter barriers to accommodating patient demand during public health emergencies. Building on a comprehensive literature review of information and knowledge exchange in healthcare, disaster management, and humanitarian operations management, this study explores the influence of treatment-based medical countermeasures (T-MCM) on ICU bed utilization during the Covid-19 pandemic, investigating whether participation in a regional health registry (HReg) facilitates better management of care capacities. We use a difference-in-differences approach with propensity score weighting to analyze a panel dataset of 735 observations from Michigan hospitals, finding that health systems that used T-MCMs experienced modest reductions of 1.8% of ICU bed utilization. However, the reduction increased by an additional 27.1% among hospitals that participated in the HReg. Hospitals that used T-MCMs without HReg participation experienced a 10.8% increase in ICU bed utilization, suggesting resource overload. These results underscore the importance of adaptive learning and strategic investment in information-sharing infrastructures to optimize healthcare delivery during crises. We discuss theoretical, managerial, and policy implications when managing healthcare capacity during pandemics.