About healthcare quality and safety
Superbugs should be entered as a cause of death on death certificates, say experts: It is hard to quantify a problem if the data is not being gathered. People who die from “superbugs” (antibiotic-resistant bacteria) have causes of death attributed to such “generic” reasons as sepsis. This article calls for more precise data capture.
About health insurance
University to Students on Medicaid: Buy Private Coverage, or Drop Out (NY Times, subscription may be required): Brigham Young University requires students to have health insurance to be eligible to enroll- a situation not unlike most universities and colleges. However, effective in 2020, its Idaho campus will not accept Medicaid as an insurer. The other part of the story is: “The policy change is likely to push more students into a health plan administered by Deseret Mutual Benefits Administration, which, like the university, is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
That plan limits annual benefits and doesn’t cover birth control — provisions that would violate the Affordable Care Act, but for a little-noticed Obama-era exemption for universities that fund their own health plans.” The rule and unethical nature of these moves speak for themselves.
UnitedHealthcare to Open Member Medicare Services Centers in Select Walgreens Stores: This offering is for insurance enrollment and other such business issues. It is not a clinical center.
2020 Global Medical Trends Survey Report: Willis Towers Watson just released its annual report of employer-sponsored health insurance. “The cost of medical care is rising at a similar rate to previous years, a rate that remains relatively stable. The global trend is for a projected 6.8% increase in 2020 where in 2019 it was 6.7%. The most dramatic rise is in the Middle East and Africa, where costs are expected to jump to 9.3% from 8.5%. The European rate of increase will remain stable at 4.3%, and in Latin America medical costs are projected to decrease from 12.2% to 11.7%.” Of course individual countries can vary widely from regional averages. Of significance is that within the next five years, “27% of health insurers predicted that mental and behavioral conditions will be among the three most common conditions, and 26% predict that they will be among the three most expensive.” Also, pharmacy “services cost increases appear to be slightly moderating compared with prior years outside of the U.S.”
2 physician payment model advisers abruptly resign from MACRA committee: “Two members of a government advisory committee tasked with overseeing physician-focused payment models abruptly resigned out of frustration with federal agencies, according to their resignation letters.” Harold Miller, president and CEO of the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, said: “I do not want to be part of a process that misleads physicians and other stakeholders into thinking that if they develop a good physician-focused payment model, go through the rigorous review process PTAC has established, and receive a positive recommendation, they will have a chance of seeing their work implemented.”
Moody's: Higher deductibles, surprise billing legislation will increase hospitals' bad debt: The headline speaks for itself.
About healthcare technology
Best inventions 2019: Check this Time Magazine list of best inventions, including a section on healthcare.
About healthcare IT
VA reports 235% increase in video telehealth visits in FY19: “The Department of Veterans Affairs, which already has the country’s largest telemedicine program, delivered more than 2.6 million episodes of telehealth care in Fiscal Year 2019.”
VA put millions of people, including doctors, at risk of identity theft, agency audit finds: “The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) put millions of people, including medical professionals, at risk of identity theft by disclosing their Social Security numbers in copies of veterans' benefits claims, an agency audit found.
When responding to veterans' requests for copies of their medical benefits claims, the VA failed to redact personally identifiable information of other service members and doctors treating the veteran, according to a report from the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG). That information included names and Social Security numbers.”
Hospital alarms prove a noisy misery for patients: ‘I feel like I’m in jail.’ (Washington Post, subscription may be required): “Alarms have ranked as one of the top 10 health technological hazards every year since 2007, according to the research firm ECRI Institute. “ And according to the Joint Commission, “an estimated 85 to 99 percent do not require clinical intervention.” So why are devices measuring irrelevant information? What information do we really need to monitor patients to make sure they are safe?
About the public’s health
Obesity declined among toddlers on food assistance after Obama-era reforms. But now enrollment is falling (Washington Post, subscription may be required): “In a report released this week, researchers found the obesity rate among more than 12.4 million 2- to 4-year-olds enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) dropped from 15.9 percent in 2010 to 13.9 percent in 2016.” The reason? “Starting in 2009, WIC state agencies were required to provide food packages that hewed more closely to the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans as well as infant feeding practice guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics. This led to increased availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lower-fat milk for WIC enrollees.”
Trump Warns a Flavor Ban Would Spawn Counterfeit Vaping Products (NY Times, subscription required): The headline says it all. By analogy, maybe we should legalize heroin so we can eliminate its black market.
About pharma
Novartis to acquire The Medicines Company for USD 9.7 bn: This acquisition is today’s biggest business story. Novartis was looking to get into the next generation cholesterol-lowering space by adding adding inclisiran to its portfolio.
Medicine Price Index 2019: This report quantifies how much more we pay than other countries. It also gives examples of specific drugs.
Harvard, MIT spearhead $50M manufacturing center to speed cell, gene therapy R&D: Universities usually produce the product (or science behind it), leaving manufacturing to private companies. Now MIT and Harvard are partnering with other Massachusetts life sciences players to set up a new manufacturing center projected to open in 2021.
Miscellaneous
29 best-managed healthcare companies: “Twenty-nine healthcare companies made the Management Top 250, a ranking that measures corporate effectiveness developed by the Drucker Institute.” The top fourteen of these are product companies.