Health and Human Services

Government agencies of all sorts had to adapt their public communication strategies to address the public health crisis of COVID-19. Those who did so with a human approach found a lasting connection with their audiences.

As the number of COVID-19 cases begins to rise once again in the state, there is bipartisan support in the Legislature to make permanent many of the changes that have driven the increase in telehealth.

A grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will fund technology upgrades at 42 locations, including 26 web conference-enabled classrooms, and help expand healthcare and education in rural areas.

More than 28 million people in the United States have downloaded the mobile apps or activated exposure notifications on their smartphones. Critics say the technology has overemphasized privacy at the cost of usefulness.

The ride-share will be offering up to 20,000 free or discounted rides to New Orleans residents with appointments to receive a COVID-19 vaccination as part of a partnership with the city and a number of other local organizations.

A community's wastewater can predict coronavirus cases that haven't yet been diagnosed. The quicker that information is known, the better.

The new system, developed in partnership with IBM, will allow users to print out their negative test results or vaccine status or store the information in a smartphone app for use at certain venues.

Illinois’ state government is one of several agencies taking a data and analytics-driven approach to messaging around COVID-19 vaccine distribution efforts, similar to the same efforts for the U.S. Census.

Officials from L.A. County, the nation’s most populous county, and the California Department of Technology offered their takeaways from the rollout of the My Turn COVID-19 vaccination eligibility website.

Vaccine seekers have been navigating conflicting information from the state’s MyTurn COVID-19 vaccine registration website, in some cases allowing appointments to be mistakenly booked by people outside the county.

Indian River County is leveraging a new vaccine registration system aimed at residents 65 and over. The new process is a notable change from the "first-come, first-served" system residents were struggling to navigate.

Ohio has developed a central coronavirus vaccine registration website that will allow people to sign up for the vaccine and is working to add providers to the system, Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday.

The mass vaccination software intended to help streamline the process of getting patients vaccinated has been struggling to correct technical problems as the rollout continues.

Florida counties experienced trouble with vaccination signup websites over the weekend, leading to confusion over appointment times, frustrated senior citizens, and overwhelmed local public health officials.

Big Rock Technologies, a finalist in the NATO Innovation COVID Challenge, received approval from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., allowing the city to be the testing grounds for contactless delivery of COVID tests and medicine.

El Paso, Texas, residents who live near a Walmart on the east side of the city can potentially get an at-home COVID-19 testing kit delivered by drone, after the delivery service started Tuesday.

Hospitals and health-care systems across the nation and in Massachusetts are facing increased ransomware threats, federal law enforcement and cybersecurity agencies warned, urging organizations to prepare.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Wednesday announced the agency is investing $781,127 to provide telemedicine software and equipment to bolster health-care access in central Kansas.