About Covid-19
CDC recommends older adults get 2nd updated coronavirus shot “A CDC recommendation means that those who are eligible for a second shot will have that additional dose covered by insurance. Eligible consumers should be able to get the additional dose within a day or twofrom pharmacies or health-care providers stocking the vaccines. There are no supply shortages, CDC officials said.”
About health insurance/insurers
U.S. Opens UnitedHealth Antitrust Probe “The Justice Department has launched an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth, owner of the biggest U.S. health insurer, a leading manager of drug benefits and a sprawling network of doctor groups.
The investigators have in recent weeks been interviewing healthcare-industry representatives in sectors where UnitedHealth competes, including doctor groups, according to people with knowledge of the meetings.
During their interviews, investigators have asked about issues including certain relationships between the company’s UnitedHealthcare insurance unit and its Optum health-services arm, which owns physician groups, among other assets.
Investigators have asked about the possible effects of the company’s doctor-group acquisitions on rivals and consumers, the people said.”
2023 Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey An excellent annually-published report. Read the Key Findings sections.
About hospitals and healthcare systems
World's Best Hospitals 2024 FYI. From Newsweek.
Mayo posts $1.1B operating income, 6% margin “Mayo Clinic saw financial and operational improvements in 2023 that lifted its net operating income to $1.1 billion, according to financial results released Feb. 27.
The Rochester, Minn.-based system recorded revenue of $17.9 billion against expenses of $16.8 billion in 2023, resulting in net operating income of $1.1 billion and a 6% operating margin.
The latest results mark a comeback for Mayo, which has seen cyclical losses and gains in the past few years. It reported operating income of $595 million for 2022 compared to a $1.2 billion gain in 2021. Mayo cared for more than 1.3 million patients from more than 130 countries in 2023.”
Trinity Health nearly wipes last year's operating losses, grows revenue by over 11% “Livonia, Michigan-based Trinity Health brought its six-month operating losses down from last year’s $270.3 million (-2.6% operating margin) to $38.6 million (-0.3% operating margin) thanks to higher volumes and ‘several revenue and cost management initiatives…’
Though Trinity reports its financials on a year-to-date basis, the faith-based provider noted that the trajectory of its margins improved from a loss in the first fiscal quarter, ended Sept. 30, to a gain in its most recent, ended Dec. 31. Its six-month bottom line has also risen year over year from a $70.5 million loss to a $669.1 million net income.”
About pharma
PBMs not complying with federal probe: FTC “In June 2022, the Federal Trade Commission launched a probe into the business practices of pharmacy benefit managers and how they affect drug affordability and access. No PBM has fully complied with the probe, FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a recent letter obtained by Axios.”
Spotlight On: Pharma’s fastest-growing drugs in 2023 FYI. Not a surprise, at the top spot is Ozempic.
Five Companies Won’t Delist Orange Book Patents Challenged by FTC, Three Others Will “While three of the companies warned of inappropriate Orange Book patent listings by the FTC are delisting all the challenged patents, according to the U.S. legislators who led the action, five others refused to delist.
The companies who refused to delist certain patents said all of their challenged patents were appropriately filed, and had never been used to stifle generics competition.”
About the public’s health
Emhoff unveiling $1.7B in new commitments to Biden anti-hunger initiative “Second gentleman Doug Emhoff unveiled nearly $1.7 billion in new commitments to the Biden administration’s efforts to end hunger by the end of the decade.
The list includes more than 140 commitments from nonprofits, insurers, health systems, local officials and academia. Sixteen cities across the country have pledged to create task forces and action plans to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases by 2030.”
About healthcare IT
AI AND THE FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE Worth a read. For example, a couple findings:
—Investors spent $31.5B in healthcare AI-related technology between 2019 and 2022, and these technologies are expected to fuel more investments, and influence valuations and market value for healthcare organizations moving forward. Recent research finds that wider adoption of AI could lead to savings of 5% to 10% in US healthcare spending–roughly $200 billion to $360 billion annually in 2019 dollars.
—Only four in ten overall respondents indicate their organizations are reviewing or planning to review AI regulatory guidance. Despite this, a majority remain confident about regulators’ abilities to develop adequate safeguards.”
The Emerging Landscape of Augmented Intelligence in Health Care A good review for those who need an introduction to the topic. What I found most interesting is the data in Figure 5 (page 13). By far, physicians want AI to help with “administrative burdens.”
FTC’s Khan warns tech industry that agency will strictly enforce AI data privacy “Artificial intelligence tools will be vigorously regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), with an eye on consumer privacy, its Chair Lina Khan told an audience of tech executives and startup founders at a conference Tuesday.
‘We’re crafting easily administrable remedies with bright-line rules on the development, use and management of AI inputs,’ Khan said during a speech. “That means making clear that some data, particularly peoples’ sensitive health data, geolocation data and browsing data is simply off limits for model training.”
About healthcare personnel
Only 37% of Medical Practices Receive Value-Based Care Payments, Black Book Survey Reveals “While the shift towards value-based care (VBC) is underway, a recent Black Book survey reveals that only 37% of medical practices are currently receiving payments from upside-risk arrangements and shared savings, while 12% receive payments from full risk.
This leaves a significant portion, over 50%, still relying on traditional Fee-For-Service models.”
About health technology
Epigenetic silencing lasts long-term in mice, bolstering case for therapeutic use “Mouse data from a new study published Feb. 28 in Nature and sponsored in part by Chroma Medicine suggest that epigenetic gene silencing can suppress the target gene for nearly a year, providing new evidence for the lasting effects of these therapies.”