Skip to content
‹ Back to IndustriesHealthcare

A Coronavirus Economic Update: Business Casual

With the number of coronavirus cases worldwide approaching 80,000 (most of them in China) with 35 cases already reported in the U.S., and a death toll that now tops 2,600, both American and international companies are apprehensive over the likely economic impacts, warning that reduced flows into and out of the world’s second-largest economy…

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Healthcare teams put it to work with Executive Thought Leadership.

·
Share

Free workspace

Turn your Healthcare expertise into content.

Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI on a free trial of the MarketScale platform for qualifying companies. No demo required, no credit card.

Try it Free

With the number of coronavirus cases worldwide approaching 80,000 (most of them in China) with 35 cases already reported in the U.S., and a death toll that now tops 2,600, both American and international companies are apprehensive over the likely economic impacts, warning that reduced flows into and out of the world’s second-largest economy will have a tangible effect on business and product availability throughout the world.

Today, there remains huge uncertainty about how widely the virus will spread and how much damage it will do. But in America, where the S&P 500 hit a new high last Wednesday, this week, after reports of people infected with the virus in the major economies of South Korea and Italy, the S&P dropped more than 7 percent. Further, on Tuesday, yields on 10-year United States Treasury bonds fell to their lowest levels on record, suggesting investors expect significant economic damage and accompanying Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts.

Taking a growing toll on the U.S. economy, Mark Zandi, Chief Economist of Moody’s Analytics, estimates the outbreak will reduce growth during the first three months of 2020 by six-tenths of a percentage point to 1.3%, chiefly through reduced travel and tourism and manufacturers who will likely export less to Asia and Europe as demand there slackens.

In this Business Casual segment, Daniel Litwin and Taylor Bagley take on the coronavirus issue, and examine the current economic impacts as well as the potential consequences should the virus spread further and make significant landfall here on our country’s shores.

“What we really need to work on now is getting accurate information, the right information about how many people have been affected by this, how we can actually contain this,” Bagley stated.

“We need to prepare for the reality that if it does hit the United States in a more aggressive way, that we’re really going to be testing our mobile workforce honestly. People are going to be working from home, schools are going to be canceled—what does that look like,” Litwin said. “So, day-to-day could change a lot and that would impact our economy substantially.”

For more Business Casual, listen live on MarketScale Radio on Wednesdays and Fridays at 9 AM CT, and follow us on Twitter at @BizCasualRadio.

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Healthcare starts with a company putting its clinicians, service-line leaders, and field engineers on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Service-line buyers vet vendors quietly, and your clinicians become the proof they find while doing it.

Book DemoSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.
B2B Weekly

The week in Healthcare, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.

Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.

Healthcare: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Healthcare buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free Trial

You just read one Healthcare expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your clinicians, service-line leaders, and field engineers into the articles, video, and social content Healthcare buyers are searching for. Start a free trial and see it with your own people. For qualifying companies, no credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What your free trial includes

Hands-on access to the MarketScale platform
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
No demo required. No credit card.
For qualifying companies. Company confirmation required.

More Healthcare Insights

Censis now reads da Vinci 2D codes to count arm uses

Censis now reads da Vinci 2D codes to count arm uses

Censis Technologies told CtUC 2026 attendees that CensiTrac has read the 2D matrix code on da Vinci arms since April, so robotic arms carry use counts without a second mark. The session built a business case for CensiTrac Advanced around marked assembly, clinic inventory ownership and par levels, with a 2021 BMJ Quality & Safety study putting missing instruments at 17.6% of assembly defects.

  • 01CensiTrac has counted da Vinci arm uses from the code that already comes on each arm since April, with no laser or etch added.
  • 02Hospitals told Censis they want clinic inventory tracking mainly to prove sterile processing did not lose the instruments.
  • 03Missing instruments were 17.6% of assembly tray defects at a 700-bed hospital in a 2021 BMJ Quality & Safety study, a problem the presenter tied to marked assembly.

Nov 5, 2026

AdvaMed digital health board approves data access best practices

AdvaMed digital health board approves data access best practices

AdvaMed's Digital Health Tech board approved voluntary Data Access Principles & Best Practices, announced October 28, setting four principles for how medtech companies and U.S. health systems share data.

  • 01The framework covers data vendors need to implement, monitor and improve technology, with expectations for transparency, stewardship and de-identification.
  • 02Watch for the first RFPs, security questionnaires or data use agreements that cite the principles by name; a voluntary document gains weight only when buyers adopt it.

Nov 5, 2026

Nearly 500 hospitals track shortage-affected segments via RFID

Nearly 500 hospitals track shortage-affected segments via RFID

According to Bluesight, nearly 500 hospitals track almost 4,000 shortage-affected medication segments in their RFID systems. Checks of dispensing cabinets have been missing that RFID-tracked supply. Gilman argues that bringing RFID data in next to cabinet data gives more complete usage rates and days-on-hand calculations, though the gain could depend on whether systems connect at the transaction level.

  • 01Gilman argues cabinet-only counts can miss RFID stock, fueling false urgency and emergency purchases, and can skew both stock-on-hand and usage-rate inputs in days-on-hand math.
  • 02RFID is no longer limited to kit and tray management: nearly 500 hospitals already track almost 4,000 shortage-affected medication segments in their RFID systems.
  • 03For operators weighing a merged feed, the key question could be whether RFID usage flows into the days-on-hand calculation at the transaction level or sits beside cabinet data as a static count.

Nov 4, 2026

Explore More Healthcare Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Healthcare.

Browse Healthcare Hub

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Healthcare and beyond.

Book a Demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512