The Care Recovery Clock: A Pathway-Specific Measurement Strategy for Recovery After Health-System Disruption

The Care Recovery Clock: A Pathway-Specific Measurement Framework The Care Recovery Clock, proposed by Dr. Samer Al-Diri, introduces a pathway-specific measurement framework for distinguishing restored healthcare service capability from the recovery of disrupted patient care following health-system interruptions. The framework defines three measurable milestones: sustained service capability (tS), timely care for newly eligible patients (tF), and verified resolution of disrupted patient care (tB). The Care Recovery Gap (CRG) measures the interval between service recovery and care-criterion attainment. The methodology incorporates patient-level outcome verification, accumulated waiting, operational capacity, continuity of care, and equity-sensitive assessment. A reproducible computational demonstration using entirely fictional patient and service records illustrates how healthcare services may recover before patients receive the care disrupted by an emergency. The framework is conceptual and has not undergone independent empirical validation. The proposed approach has potential applications in healthcare management, health-system resilience, disaster recovery, healthcare service restoration, and public-health accountability. Its practical value requires further evaluation using linked real-world clinical and operational data. Original publication: 20 October 2026. Author: Dr. Samer Al-Diri, MD, MSc (UCL), MPH (Merit). Original article: https://drsameraldiri.com/the-care-recovery-clock/ Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).