In this episode, Rich Pierle interviews Dr. Shakthi Kumar, Founder and CEO of Beacon Health Sciences in Summit, New Jersey about how to reopen business safely during COVID-19. Beacon Health Sciences is a board-certified medicine and multi-specialty practice in Internal Medicine, Pulmonology, Infectious Diseases, Metabolic Health, Clinical Nutrition, Genomics, and Pediatrics that has been in the frontline providing COVID-19 related services, including free care to over 800 first responders in various communities.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar has over 20 years of experience in healthcare and patient wellness. He was recently awarded the “Most Innovative Service Provider” by Health Network.
What Dr. Kumar is seeing while working on the frontlines with COVID-19
“When Rich reached out to me for help with putting together a COVID-19 toolkit for business organizations, I was thrilled to contribute and share some perspective from the medical frontline,” Dr. Shakthi Kumar.
“Since early 2019, when I started Beacon Health Sciences, a multispecialty board-certified practice, we’ve been providing personalized medical and multimodal care to patients in New Jersey and the surrounding tri-state area.”
“Over the last few months, since the onset of the pandemic, we’ve been thrust into the midst of helping communities deal with the crisis. First and foremost, from all of us here at Beacon Health Sciences, our hearts, minds, and prayers to all of those that have been impacted by this pandemic.”
“We started off with providing services at various healthcare facilities. Conducting screenings, testing, and donating care to many communities in need. Now we’re extending these services to business organizations.”
This pandemic has been especially rough on healthcare professionals, or that have one in the family. We’d like to share with our followers the human aspect of this pandemic as we move forward.
Dr Kumar, can you give us an idea of what you and your team have been seeing on the frontline?
“The COVID-19 crisis has changed various dimensions of how connected society is. From a societal impact, our primary observation from the frontline is that this pandemic has brought us all together. We’re now connected to each other, as a society, more so than before, which has been a strange revelation.
Our actions as individuals, families, business owners and corporations are impacting the lives of so many.
“Another dimension of change, which became evident since the beginning of COVID-19 in March, was a lack of systemic guidance as well as protocols. It’s one aspect that we’re still learning from. The only thing predictable about COVID-19 is that it’s unpredictable.
It affects all demographics and we’re still learning about the transmission of the virus, which seems to have an ever encompassing spectrum. We’ve seen asymptomatic patients, fully cured, and test results coming back double negative. Or patients, 65 days into COVID-19 and still haven’t fully regained all of their senses, and still testing positive.
What’s interesting for us, as medical practitioners, is that there are no standard guidelines, each case is very unique. Not every patient will go through the same phases of the virus, and it impacts each individual differently. Especially those that have compromised immune systems or are simultaneously battling other existing conditions”, Dr. Kumar.
“The next dimension we’re seeing on the frontline is the impact on families as a repercussion from the impact on commerce and the economy. We can’t just wait it out or get cooped up in our houses until the disease goes away. At some point, we’ll need to learn to live with the disease.
Barring any unforeseen positive developments or circumstances in the next few months, I think we’re in for the long haul and we need to treat this like any other seasonal illnesses, such as the flu or strep. But perhaps on a more conventional disease control level. We need to address coping with the situation so that we can help business organizations.”
The steps organizations need to take as they reopen the workplace to maintain safety and employee peace of mind
How can we help organizations open their business in a safe way while helping provide employee and customer peace of mind?
“Everyone is handling this differently, that’s something we’ve learned from working with our clients on a daily basis. Establishing timelines to get people through triaging, understanding the impact to the organization, begin planning, and how to start a phased reopening. We need to ensure that when we re-enter the workplace, we’re safe, and don’t take anything dangerous home with us”, Dr. Shakthi Kumar.
“The CDC has put out some guidelines along with state agencies, which have given us a roadmap, especially in the New Jersey and New York area. It’s a roadmap for recovery and how to reopen depending on the type of business. In my opinion, businesses should consider putting some form of controls in place before reopening.
Personal health and well-being of employees, along with customers and clients, need to be protected. Once the guidelines come out, we can reopen with minimal structures in place and be able to sustain it over time. Various infectious disease experts, including Dr. Fauci, have said it’s unclear how the virus will manifest itself in the late summer and early fall. We need to factor in sustainability.
Organizations should be taking control of the trajectory of reopening by protecting safety measures proactively and with reactive controls.
First, stop the disease from getting into the workplace, which means isolating the infected people. Simultaneously, assuming you’ve disinfected your workplace, environment, which is necessary, and continues on a periodic basis as you reopen. Businesses will need a way to ensure new people entering the system are virus-free or minimize the chance of spreading the infection. Broad range testing of the workforce is the biggest proactive step.
Many businesses, such as healthcare organizations, have elected these procedures.
When patients come into a clinic for an elective procedure, depending on the specialty, for example, Gastrointestinal procedures require very close, intimate contact with the patient. Despite any PPE, the possibilities of contamination with COVID-19 are still unpredictable.
Controlling the means of transmission is key to stopping the virus. The first step to doing that is screening and testing your workforce, which is not a single episode event. It needs to happen with periodic frequency. There are guidelines from the CDC and each individual local state department of health.”
How Beacon Health Sciences is assisting businesses to reopen
What is Beacon Health Sciences doing to support these efforts? What critical controls are companies contemplating putting in place and how do they fit that into their systems?
“Proactive actions organizations can do to prepare for reopening their workplaces need to be ongoing. Whether it’s an essential business, R & D departments, distribution warehouses, hospitality, or transportation”, Dr. Shakthi Kumar.
“As a medical practice, we give them the infrastructure and support to implement proactive controls, which means we make sure that employees are screened and tested for the virus on a periodic and repeating basis.
There are different testing methods available, and we provide that onsite for added convenience.
Imagine needing to administer tests to hundreds or thousands of employees, and doing it in an unorganized manner by sending each patient to an individual testing agency and then having to aggregate those results. That would be an impossible task for an organization to execute efficiently. What we do is coordinate the medical intake and evaluation of each employee by organizing screening, testing, and reporting. And then ensuring the workplace continues to be safe.”
Components of a workforce health assessment & factors influencing workplace health within an organization for Fortune 500 companies
Now, when we were once promoting open workspaces to improve productivity, we’re changing course for more isolated environments to halt virus transmission. Due to this change, we’re working with commercial real estate professionals, which presents an interesting challenge for them. We’re actively teaming up experts and determining how to redesign the workplace for the future, and redefine the new normal. Ongoing case studies have shown these ongoing collaborations are working fantastically.
We also provide guidance on the appropriate wearing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) specific to the type of business.
By helping organizations through consulting on how to keep their workplaces safe, we’re learning how to operate our businesses, our economy, and our lives with the virus presently around us. New information about the virus is showing, in some cases, the transmission of the virus can happen as far as 25 feet. Adding reactive controls, some of which are hygienic, such as disinfecting frequently touched surfaces and cleaning ventilation vents is recommended in some scenarios.”
Current testing environment for employers, the different types of tests available with pros and cons of each, and frequency
What are the different kinds of tests available, that most people are using, and how effective is each one at providing an accurate result?
“We provide tests to our patients, communities, and business partners. The tests are continuing to evolve, and each week there’s a new approval released or new guidance promoted. When we combine evidence-based data with synthesized it shows some level of accuracy and merit.
This is something many people ask us about.
The sensitivity and specificity of the test are the two key metrics, combined with a larger predictive value, that determine the ability to detect the presence or absence of a pathogen.
Beacon Hill works with all commercial labs. The Rutgers genomics lab is offering the FDA approved sputum test for active virus, and it has shown a good correlation of results.
There are 2 facets to testing, one is to test for active virus, and most follow the standard nasal swab for that. The other facet is to have individuals or patients that have been exposed to the virus and measure antibodies. The antibody test has improved over the last few months and is highly accurate It can’t be used to determine if employees can return to work, but it gives us an understanding of the larger prevalence in the workforce and should be used in conjunction with active virus tests combined with clinical symptoms. A medical provider can judge the validity of diagnosis and what needs to happen for an individual to return to work.
Beacon Hill follows a protocol to identify patients that had the virus and recovered, because they’ll have the antibodies, and if they become plasma donors, that’s very valuable. Once identified, we refer them to a plasma donation center, which helps the broader community at large.”
Dr. Kumar’s perspective regarding the testing of workers and specific measures we can utilize to protect the health of our workforce
King for the Day Question: When you connect with CEOs and COOs, what pieces of advice would you give them as they think through going back to work? Since you’ve worked with many large organizations over your career, what would you say to them from your perspective?
“At this time, we need to think about not just the economic health of the business, which is obviously important to leaders, but also the well-being and long term health of their employees.
Everyone is grappling with balancing the two. We can find a manner to execute this, that’s minimally intrusive to the business and the individual.
A big piece of that puzzle is having a strategy in place for reopening, which would include employee health and wellness. That strategy should be taken seriously, “ Dr. Shakthi Kumar.
“There are tools and medical methods available, along with cleaning practices. The vaccines will be available soon, but no one knows for sure when maybe early fall or the end of next year.
Until the vaccine becomes available, studies are completed and we have definitive guidance on its immunology we’ll need to adopt this new normal to open up businesses.
This is an opportunity for all leaders to become unifiers in the system by bringing the business together, with new innovation and redesign themselves to promote productivity. But while doing so, protect the health and well-being of the workforce and use all of the screening models and the modalities available. Leaders solidify the business cause and purpose by ensuring their workforce is productively employed and engaged while actually delivering the services that keep the economy going. All of us at Beacon Health Sciences continue to balance serving the first responder community and business organizations.”
Dr. Kumar’s recommendations on how business leaders can stay one step ahead in a new normal
In summary:
- Testing strategy in place and it’s actively managed with the right partners
- Cleaning
- Effective communications, connecting with the right people in your community
- Follow state government guidelines, as every state is at a different point on the continuum, right down to the counties and municipalities.
Now is the time for all of us to come together. Our opportunity, as leaders, is to drive reopening in a safe way for our employees, but also use this as an opportunity to help transform our organizations.
“We must reopen, we need to keep business going and it’ll happen with more connectedness in society than before. Each of us has a part to play in the fight against COVID-19. Leaders of businesses, organizations, and owners have their unique part as well. We all have tasks to do in order to keep ourselves, our employees and our customers safe Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
- Starting with screening and testing protocols, but not stopping there. Those are not one-time events. They must happen on a recurring basis, based on the type of business.
- You’ll need the right type of PPE that’s required for your business.
- You have to have the right type of the PPE that’s required for your business.
- Do your homework and make judicious decisions.
- Consider the emphasis on individual health and wellness
Go one step beyond prevention, and consider there are a number of COVID survivors that are still recovering and they need to be mended into the fold as well.
My plea to the business leaders is to re-energize everyone around a better health platform. I’m confident we’ll work together on this and overcome this pandemic, and have better times to look forward to.
Episode Summary: Back in Business: How to Reopen Your Business Safely During COVID-19 with Dr. Shakthi Kumar
In this episode, Rich Pierle interviews Dr. Shakthi Kumar, Founder and CEO of Beacon Health Sciences in Summit, New Jersey about how to reopen business safely during COVID-19. Beacon Health Sciences is a board-certified medicine and multi-specialty practice in Internal Medicine, Pulmonology, Infectious Diseases, Metabolic Health, Clinical Nutrition, Genomics and Pediatrics that has been in the frontline providing COVID-19 related services, including free care to over 800 first responders in various communities.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar has over 20 years of experience in healthcare and patient wellness. He was recently awarded “Most Innovative Service Provider” by Health Network.
What To Listen For
- What Dr. Kumar is seeing while working on the frontlines with COVID-19
- The steps organizations need to take as they reopen the workplace to maintain safety and employee peace of mind
- How is Beacon Health Sciences assisting businesses to reopen
- Some of the components of a workforce health assessment and some of the factors influencing workplace health within an organization for Fortune 500 companies
- The current testing environment for employers, the different types of tests available the pros and cons of each, and frequency
- Dr. Kumar’s perspective regarding the testing of workers and specific measures can we utilize to protect the health of our workforce
- Dr. Kumar’s recommendations on how can business leaders stay one step ahead during and what appears to be a new normal
Resources and Links
Pier Digital COVID-19 Infographic – U.S. State by State Guidance
Beacon Health Sciences Website
Rich Pierle:
Hello and welcome. I’m Rich Pierle, and this is the Pier Digital Podcast. This show is for technology leaders who want to discuss important topics and issues of the day from a technology perspective, everything from digital transformation, business continuity planning for coronavirus, legacy infrastructure replatforming, and much, much more. I’ll be helping to guide your transformational journey navigating through tough terrain while overcoming obstacles and reducing costs and mistakes. Whether you’re a CEO, CIO, or just trying to plug into the digital landscape, you need proven strategies and someone who has been there and done that. You can learn more and stay up to date at pierdigital.com.
Speaker 2:
Rich Pierle is CEO and managing partner at Pier Digital Advisory Solutions, a boutique consultancy that supports companies on their journey from legacy technologies and business models to the realization of a digital operating model. Rich shares insight from the perspective as former CIO and EVP for global services at Becton Dickinson. Now a leading independent consultant helping Fortune 500 leaders take advantage of accelerating technology change, digitally transforming their organizations and culture. All opinions expressed by Rich Pierle and Pier Digital and podcast guests are solely their own opinions.
Rich Pierle:
Hello, this is Rich Pierle and the Pier Digital Podcast. Today’s topic, getting back to business, reopening your business safely during COVID-19. Before we get into the podcast, one of the things that we had talked about in some of the previous episodes is a toolkit that we’ve been putting together. And one of the things that we’re pretty excited about, and we’re going to talk about it in the podcast, and then we’re going to give you some links to go to it is the whole timeline to reopening and some of the key phases that we’re going through. Some of these phases we’ve already been through, disruption and then some of the phases I think we’re in now. So a lot of companies are triaging where they are, planning on where they’re going to go, and really this is leading up to a full reset of what they’re doing. And we believe it’s going to turn into a fifth phase, which is transformation.
Rich Pierle:
I’m extremely excited today to have a special guest. It’s Dr. Shakthi Kumar, founder and CEO of Beacon Health Sciences. This is a board certified medical practice that has been on the frontline of providing COVID-19 services, including free care to over 800 first responders in various communities across the metropolitan New York and New Jersey area. I’m proud to call Dr. Kumar a friend. I’ve known him since I was at Becton Dickinson and he was my partner helping me through a lot of complex technology issues. He’s a great guy. I’m excited to have him here. And with that, I’d like to turn it over to Shakthi to kind of talk a little bit about himself, his organization, and then we can do some Q and A. Shakthi.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
Thank you, Rich. Thank you very much. Good morning, everyone. It’s really very exciting to be on the podcast. When Rich reached out that he was putting together a COVID-19 toolkit for business organizations I was very thrilled to be part of this podcast and kind of share a little bit from a provider perspective what we’re seeing out there. A little bit about Beacon Health Sciences, we are a multispecialty board-certified practice. We started off in early 2019. That seems like a long time ago. And we provide personalized medicine care, multimodal care to our patients in New Jersey and the surrounding tri-state areas.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
And over the last few months with the onset of the pandemic, we have been thrust into the midst of helping our communities deal with this crisis. And first and foremost, from all of us here at Beacon Health Sciences, our heart and minds and prayers to all of those that have been impacted by this event. And so we started off with the providing our services at various healthcare facilities. We’ve conducted screenings, testing as well as free care to many communities. And now we are extending the same to organizations, and that’s how this podcast came about working with Rich on this one. So happy to share a little bit more about it later on in the session.
Rich Pierle:
Thanks. Thanks, Shakthi. And I think those of us who have either a family member that’s been impacted by this or relatives in the healthcare profession. I have a niece who’s a nurse, University of Michigan, and it’s just, it’s been a tough time, I think. So can you share a little bit with us of some of the things that you guys have been seeing and dealing with on the front line? I think it’s important to kind of level set on the whole human aspect of this as we move into the conversation and not miss that part of the conversation
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
Absolutely, rich. And so I think as we look at the COVID-19, you can almost look at the different dimensions of what this has done to the society. And I think the primary observation from all of us being in the front lines is in a very strange way this event has brought all of us together. Today each one of us are connected to each other in a society unlike any time before. Our actions and what we do as individuals, as families, as business owners, as corporations impact the life of others. And so that has been kind of like a some sort of strange revelation for us.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
The other aspect also has been a socially it’s we’ve seen that over… We started off the whole aspect of care and providing services related to COVID-19 way back in March when there was lack of systemic sort of guidance and as well as protocols. Well, we were all learning. We’re still learning from it. And one thing that is really predictable about COVID-19 is the unpredictability of it. And what I mean by it is that we’ve seen people of all ages, of all demographics, getting impacted by the disease. The vectorial spectrum of COVID-19. We are learning. Initially we started off saying there’s only few vectors and few isolates to which we could get the disease. And now we see a whole spectrum of that, and we’re still learning.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
We’ve seen patients who have been asymptomatic, fully cure, and the tests, the RTPCR, the isothermal molecular coming double negatives in about a month. And even as of last week, we have seen patients 65 days into COVID-19 and still they have not regained their sensorium, still testing positive and so on. So it’s kind of interesting in one way, but at the same time, we all have to realize that this one, there is no one standard guideline. You can never say everybody goes through the same phases of the disease. And it impacts individuals and patients in a different way, especially the immunocompromised. It could be the comorbidities and so on. And so that is one aspect of it.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
The other one is from what we’re seeing in the frontline is that the various businesses and various organizations, what it has done to families and the economy. And I mean, one thing is very certain, right? We can never wait. We can never get cooped up in our houses to have the disease go away. We have to learn to live with the disease. The business, barring any unforeseen positive developments and circumstances coming up in the next few months, I think we are in it for the long haul and we have to treat this like any other seasonal illnesses, like flu and strep, but perhaps with what we call epidemiology as a higher R-naught factor, we have to deal with it as such.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
So that’s another observation, Rich, is that we have to learn to live with the disease. And that’s kind of interesting to what you’re doing is helping business organizations, kind of how do you cope with this as you reopen.
Rich Pierle:
Yeah. Thank you, Shakthi. And I think that’s one of the things that we’re trying to really work through. And as we think about organizations that we’ve talked to and that we’re working with on a daily basis, everybody’s handling a little bit differently. Some of the timelines we talk about from people have gotten through triaging, understanding the impact to the organization, getting into planning and how do they start what I would call a phased reopen, it’s really looking through that differently. So along that line, because again, the topic today is helping organizations think about how to reopen their business, what should they be doing so that they can reopen the workplace in a safe way while helping provide, I think, employee peace of mind? Because I think that’s one of the things that all of us are looking for is how we make sure that when we go in the workplace that we’re safe and that when we come home, we’re not bringing something back to our family. So can you talk a little bit about that?
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
Yeah, sure. I think as businesses, depending on the type of business, right? So the CDC has put out some guidelines and the state agencies have given us some roadmap, especially in New Jersey and New York area, we have a roadmap for recovery, right, as how to reopen businesses and what kind of businesses are reopening. I think the primary thing to look at it for businesses and corporations is looking at putting together some form of controls in place. And the thing that needs to be protected is just not only the personal health and the well-being of their employees, the customers and clients, but also reopening is not a huge thing because once the guideline comes out, you can just reopen it with some minimal structures in place. It’s about how do you sustain it over the course of the next few months?
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
Because various experts in the area and various infectious disease experts, including Dr. Fauci, we’ve gotten some guidance and saying that we’re not really sure how this virus is going to manifest itself in late summer and early fall. So how do you sustain? How do you control the trajectory of your business and at the same time protecting the well-being of employees? And one of the things that organizations should be looking into is putting together some what we call as proactive and reactive controls. And one of the first things you need to be doing is stop the disease from getting into the confines of the workplace. Which means that isolating the vectors. And who are the vectors? The vectors are the people.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
And then at the same time, presuming that you have cleansed your workplace, your environment, you’ve disinfected your workplace and environment, which needs to happen, by the way, on a periodic basis as you reopen. You need to make sure that the people that are entering into the system, the vectors that are entering into the system, are virus free, or will minimize the chance of spread of infections. And one of the biggest things we can do proactively is broad range screening and testing of your workforce. And depending on the type of businesses, for instance, a lot of the physician practices and healthcare organizations have started elective procedures. And as before a patient comes in to an elective procedure, the guidances that the patient gets tested for COVID-19 because especially in a lot of disciplines like GI, and… You’re very, very close, intimate contact with the patient, despite all of the PPE, the aerosolization of the virus and it’s impact of contamination is not predictable.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
So you have to stop the spread of virus by controlling the vectors. And that is the first step would be is screen your workforce and ensure that you screen and test your workforce. And it’s not a one time event, Rich. It needs to happen. There needs to be periodic frequency. And again, there’s a guidance given by health agencies, by local state department of health and CDC on what that needs to be.
Speaker 2:
This podcast is sponsored by Pier Digital Advisory Solutions, a boutique consultancy that supports companies on their journey from legacy technologies and business models, to the realization of a digitally operating model. If you would like to learn more about Pier Digital and see notes from today’s show, visit www.pierdigital.com/podcast. Now back to the show with your host, Rich Pierle.
Rich Pierle:
Talk a little bit about what Beacon Health Sciences is doing to support some of these efforts. Because I think these are critical things for companies to contemplate and put those controls in place. So how do you fit into that system?
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
Right. So we talked about some of the proactive things organizations can do in preparation for reopening their workplaces. There are some essential businesses. We work with a lot of essential businesses that need to be open, R and D departments, distribution warehouses, the hospitality industry, the transportation industries, and so on, that needs to be ongoing. And so what we do as a medical practice is we give them the infrastructure and the support to put in the proactive controls, meaning making sure that the employees that are coming in on a particular periodic basis are screened and tested for the virus. That’s a very important thing you need to do.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
And there have been different model therapies in how you do that. Can either go with the standard RTPCR or you could even do a saliva sputum tests, different tests are available. So we do that and we provide that onsite for businesses and their organization so it’s more convenient. Just imagine you having hundreds and thousands of employees and having them to go in a very unorganized manner to individual testing agencies and coming back and trying to aggregate that. It’s almost an impossible task for an organization. So we coordinate the medical intake, evaluation of each of the employees and organizing screening and testing.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
The other aspect we talked about is making sure the workplace is safe now. And originally you were a big proponent of open workplaces, if I remember.
Rich Pierle:
Yeah. Now we’re going to have to go back and close it all off.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
Exactly. Right. So we are working right now with a commercial. And it’s an interesting challenge for them with our experts in ID and pulmonology and others. We are having conversations around how do you really redesign the workplace or the future or the new normal, right? Because what is normal has been redefined. And as I mentioned, we have to learn to operate our economy, operate our businesses and live our lives with this being around us. So how do we do that? And so we are helping organizations with some of those consultations. How can they keep their workplaces safe? So that’s another aspect of it.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
And then we talked about some of the reactive controls. The reactive controls, some of them are obviously the hygiene they need to put in place within the organization. So most frequently are the usual normal ones that most of the agencies have provided. The frequently touched surfaces need to be disinfected all the way to cleaning their ventilation vents. There has been cases and there are studies ongoing. And the good part about this, Rich, that we are seeing as providers is that the scientific collaboration has been fantastic. There are so many studies coming out, which is very interesting to be able to get a [inaudible 00:15:45] on what needs to be done to combat this virus. And so even ventilation, there has been transmission of viruses as far as 25 feet.
Rich Pierle:
Wow. [crosstalk 00:15:54] Yeah.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
So those are some of the things that we help with and including providing guidance of the proper PPE, depending on the type of the business.
Rich Pierle:
Okay. I think we’re talking a lot about the tests. And I think one of the questions that I get are what are the tests that are out there? What are people using? How effective is the test? And so can you talk a little bit about that? I know that you have been using some of the tests developed by Rutgers. So maybe talk a little bit about that and how good are those tests from providing an accurate result?
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
Yeah. And so our endeavor has been to extend to our patients or communities, our business corporations, those tests that are continuing to evolve. Every week there is a new approval coming in or a new guidance coming in. What is out there that has scientific merit, right? And one thing that we all need to rely on during these times is working with synthesized data, with evidence-based data, that shows some level of accuracy and so on. And accuracy is a lot of people ask us about how accurate are the tests. And without really getting into the specifics, which in itself, there is something called a sensitivity of the test and a specificity of the test. Those two are the ability of the test to detect the presence of a pathogen or the absence of one. And those are the two key metrics and that combined with a larger, positive, predictive values, and so on will determine how accurate the test is.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
But the two main important facets of testing. One is you test for the active virus. And that’s the first kind. And the active virus can be done. Well, we work with all commercial labs. The RTPCR is the kind of the standard that most follow, which is a nasal swab. And quite recently, we’re excited to actually work with organizations they know, including the Rutgers genomics lab that is offering the FDA approved sputum test for active virus. We’ve seen very good correlation of results from those too.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
And then the other facet of that is have the individuals or patients been exposed to the virus in the past. And that is measured by the antibodies, the antibody test. Now that is garnered quite a bit of attention in the media, both sides, but we do believe that there is a place for that, the [inaudible 00:18:13] prevalence on the larger community that kind of analysis. And those tests have gotten better over the last few months. And there are tests that are highly accurate. While it cannot really be used to determine whether employees can return back to work or not, it gives us a good understanding of the larger prevalence in the workforce or in the community, and should be used in conjunction with the active virus test and any other clinical symptoms and a provider can make a judgment on the further diagnosis or what needs to happen and whether an individual can return to work or not.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
So those are some of the different aspects of what’s going on in screening and testing. And then also the social aspect of this is that we have helped identify so many plasma donors because once you have the COVID-19 and you recover from it and you have the antibodies, your plasma can be very valuable. And so there is a protocol we follow to identify those individuals. And then we refer them to one of the plasma donation centers, which I think will help the broader community at large.
Rich Pierle:
Okay. So the king for a day question. So you’ve got an opportunity to connect with CEOs, CHROs, COOs… What are a couple pieces of advice that you would give them right now to help them as they think through back to work from your perspective having worked with many large organizations over your career? What would you say to them?
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
I think this is the time that we need to be thinking about not only the economic health of the businesses, which is obviously very important to all business leaders, but also looking at the wellbeing and the longterm health of their employees and how do you balance the two? Right. Everybody is grappling with that question. And I think there is a way to do that. There could be a way to do that in a manner that’s least intrusive to the business, at least intrusive to the individual lives as well. And one piece of, I think if I may pass this on, is that make sure you have a strategy for reopening your businesses. And that strategy should include employee health and wellness. And one key component, we talked about proactive controls, what you should be doing as a business to protect the health of your employees, take it seriously. Right?
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
And there are tools available. There are medical methods that are available. There’s cleaning methods available right now. And even with the vaccines coming on, no one really knows when… We all hope it’s going to be soon. So we have seen timelines of hopes and promises of early fall to end of next year. But even with those coming on, we don’t yet know the level of how the immunology of this whole thing works. And there are experts kind of looking into it. And until studies come out with a more definitive guidance, the way to do this is that you have to open up your business and this is the new normal.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
So it’s a fantastic opportunity for all business leaders to innovate and redesign their businesses. But while doing so, make sure you protect the health and well-being of the workforce and use all of the screening models and the modality that’s available out there. And I think that’s number one thing. And the last thing, Rich, I might want to pass this on is with so much going on with the pandemic and the somewhat civil unrest going on and everything else, one thing kind of dawned on me this morning as I was kind of driving to work. And I think we need unifiers in the system. And I think the business leaders have a fantastic opportunity right now to become unifiers in bringing together the business cause and the purpose and making sure their workforce is productively employed and engaged while they actually deliver the services and keep the economy going.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
And how do you do that? That’s the balancing act. And at least we are humbled at Beacon Health Sciences to do our part. We continue to serve the first responder community and several businesses. So that is kind of what is the message I would like to get out.
Rich Pierle:
Fantastic. So just a quick summary. I think what we heard from Dr. Kumar was make sure that you’ve got a testing strategy in place, that you’re actively managing it and that you’re working with the appropriate partners. Part of that cleaning, I think effective communications. We didn’t necessarily touch on that, but that’s a big part of this, making sure that you’ve got the right connections within your organization and with people in your community. Obviously linkage to state government, that’s going to be critical because as we know from our weekly publication, every state is at a different point on the continuum, even down to counties and municipalities. So make sure that you’re plugged in accordingly to government agencies.
Rich Pierle:
Now’s the time for us all to come together. I think Shakthi nailed it. How do we as leaders really drive this in a safe way for our employees, but also use this an an opportunity to help transform our organizations? Because I think there is a huge opportunity underneath this. Take a minute to thank Shakthi for his time today. This is going to be a really [inaudible 00:23:31] session. And I want to turn it back to Shakthi for the final words. Shakthi.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
Thank you, Rich, for having me over. And I think you very eloquently summarized our conversation. As I mentioned earlier on, there will be a lot of connectedness in the society and I think the pandemic and we have to reopen, we have to keep the businesses going. Each one of us, we have a part to do in this fight against COVID-19. And business leaders, business organizations, business owners, they have their part to do as well. And there are a whole bunch of things that you could do to keep yourself, your employees, your customers and clients safe during this pandemic. Starts from, Rich alluded to it, the screening protocols, the testing protocols, but it just doesn’t stop there. Because it’s not a onetime event. It has to be on a recurring basis, based on the type of business you have.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
You have to have the right type of the PPE that’s required for your business. Please make judicious decisions on that. And that is a place that you need to look into. The third important thing, which is all of a sudden, now the emphasis has become on health. I know the emphasis is on health and it’s on individual health. And so it’s not only about making sure you prevent infection, but there are a number of people, a number of people among staffs, recovering from COVID-19 that are still… How do you deal with that? And how do we reenergize ourselves around a better health platform? I think that is kind of where my plea to all the business leaders and everyone is. Let’s work together on this. I’m pretty sure we’ll overcome this pandemic and look at better times.
Rich Pierle:
Thank you, Shakthi. And we’ll have links to Shakthi’s website and materials and contact information as part of what we publish [inaudible 00:25:27] as well as links to the materials that we talked about at the introduction of the session. So Shakthi, again, thank you very much for your time today. Good luck in what you’re doing, and it’s critically important for us. Thank you very much for your service.
Dr. Shakthi Kumar:
Absolutely, Rich. And best wishes to your model and toolkit. I do believe that what you’re putting out there together as a phased approach for organizations to consider as a process framework, as a procedural framework, I think we need that. And so good luck with you and your associates as well.
