About Covid-19
Cognition and Memory after Covid-19 in a Large Community Sample “Participants with resolved persistent symptoms after Covid-19 had objectively measured cognitive function similar to that in participants with shorter-duration symptoms, although short-duration Covid-19 was still associated with small cognitive deficits after recovery. Longer-term persistence of cognitive deficits and any clinical implications remain uncertain.”
About health insurance/insurers
Change Healthcare cyberattack outage could persist for weeks, UnitedHealth Group executive suggests “The outage caused by the Change Healthcare cyberattack could last weeks, a top UnitedHealth executive suggested in a Tuesday conference call with hospital cybersecurity officers, according to a recording obtained by STAT.
UnitedHealth Group Chief Operating Officer Dirk McMahon said the company is setting up a loan program to help providers who can’t submit insurance claims while Change is offline. He said that program will last ‘for the next couple of weeks as this continues to go on.’”
MA Advance Notice Does Not Offset Rising Medical Costs and Could Lead to Reduced Healthcare Value for Beneficiaries Look at the two figures for state-by-state projected changes in monthly MA payments.
GAO: Billions wasted on federal health insurance program “The Office of Personnel Management, which oversees health insurance for 8 million federal workers and their families at a cost of more than $60 billion a year, has never checked the eligibility of those on its rolls, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office, which has been pushing OPM for years to improve its oversight. And that failure is costing taxpayers billions and raising premiums for millions of civil servants.”
Drawing the line on patient responsibility collection rates An excellent summary of the status of patient collections. In summary: “Hospitals, health systems, and medical practices are collecting only about half of what patients owe them, and those relatively small dollar amounts are adding up to millions of dollars in lost revenue….
$17.4 B- Dollar value of total bad debt write-offs in 2023.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Northwell Health, Nuvance Health unveil 28-hospital merger deal “Danbury, Connecticut-based Nuvance Health is joining Northwell Health, New York’s largest provider and private employer, under a strategic merger agreement unveiled Wednesday.
The deal, which still requires regulatory signoffs, would create a healthcare network of more than 28 hospitals, over 1,000 care sites, nearly 100,000 staff and 14,500 employed providers, the two nonprofits said in their joint announcement.”
Universal Health Services beats on earnings, revenues and projects 'conservative' earnings growth for 2024 “Universal Health Services (UHS) beat estimates for the fourth quarter and is forecasting higher, though still ‘conservative,’ full-year earnings for 2024.
The King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based for-profit health system reported $216.4 million net income ($3.16 per diluted share) during the fourth quarter, an improvement over last year’s $174.8 million ($2.43 per diluted share) and $0.25 higher than the consensus estimate, according to numbers released after market close on Tuesday.
Net revenues for the quarter rose 7.4% year over year to $3.70 billion, which was also above the consensus estimate of $3.66 billion.”
FEBRUARY 2024 National Hospital Flash Report “Key Takeaways
1. Margins improved in January relative to previous years. While margins declined
slightly from December, they were higher in January relative to the same periods in 2022 and 2021.
2. Net revenue has not risen as fast as gross revenue. This might reflect payers negotiating more aggressively and a shift to value-based payment models.
3. Total expenses on a volume-adjusted basis have improved. Though there’s been continued growth in drugs and supply expenses, labor expenses have improved.”
Hospital expenses per inpatient day across 50 states FYI. For example:
National average
Nonprofit hospitals: $3,167
For-profit hospitals: $2,383
State/local government hospitals: $2,857
About pharma
Bankrupt Endo To Pay $2B To Resolve Opioid Claims “Bankrupt drugmaker Endo International has agreed to pay approximately $2 billion to resolve criminal and civil allegations related to its sales and marketing of a powerful opioid, with a group of secured lenders set to operate the company under a new corporate structure.”
Association of Cannabis Use With Cardiovascular Outcomes Among US Adults “Cannabis use is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes, with heavier use (more days per month) associated with higher odds of adverse outcomes.”
Walgreens' VillageMD to close all Illinois clinics “Walgreens' VillageMD plans to close all its primary care clinics in Illinois in April, abandoning an expansion that was underway in its home state.
The six clinics that will close April 19 are all in the Chicago area, according to VillageMD's website. Five are standalone locations and one is attached to a Walgreens store. The one co-located clinic in Elk Grove opened just six months ago…
the number of locations that have already closed or plan to close has exceeded 80 clinics.”
About the public’s health
Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses The summary provides further evidence of the deleterious effects of ultra-processed foods. For example: “Overall, direct associations were found between exposure to ultra-processed foods and 32 (71%) health parameters spanning mortality, cancer, and mental, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and metabolic health outcomes. Based on the pre-specified evidence classification criteria, convincing evidence (class I) supported direct associations between greater ultra-processed food exposure and higher risks of incident cardiovascular disease related mortality (risk ratio 1.50, 95% confidence interval 1.37 to 1.63; GRADE=very low) and type 2 diabetes (dose-response risk ratio 1.12, 1.11 to 1.13; moderate), as well as higher risks of prevalent anxiety outcomes (odds ratio 1.48, 1.37 to 1.59; low) and combined common mental disorder outcomes (odds ratio 1.53, 1.43 to 1.63; low).”
Certain types of ‘forever chemicals’ will no longer be used in US food packaging, FDA says “
Certain kinds of greaseproofing “forever” chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, will no longer be used in food packaging in the US, the US Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday.
The FDA’s food studies have shown that food packaging materials like fast-food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags and take-out pizza boxes were a major source of dietary exposure to certain types of PFAS, hormone-disrupting chemicals that may persist in the body and the environment.”
CDC braces for shortage after tetanus shot discontinued, issues new guidance “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging doctors to conserve shots of a kind of tetanus vaccine, as the agency braces for a potential shortage of those shots this year.
Doctors should switch from using the so-called Td vaccine – the immunization that protects against both tetanus and diphtheria infections – to giving the broader Tdap vaccine instead whenever possible, the CDC now says. In addition to tetanus and diphtheria, the Tdap vaccine also offers protection against pertussis, the infection also known as ‘whooping cough.’
This year's shortage risk stems from a decision by nonprofit vaccinemaker MassBiologics to discontinue production of its Td vaccine, branded as TdVax.”
Flu shots are doing OK vs. virus, US numbers indicate “The vaccines were around 40% effective in preventing adults from getting sick enough from the flu that they had to go to a doctor’s office, clinic or hospital, health officials said during a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccines meeting Wednesday. Children who were vaccinated were roughly 60% less likely to get treatment at a doctor’s office or hospital, CDC officials said.
Officials generally are pleased if a flu vaccine is 40% to 60% effective.”
About healthcare IT
Ransomware group leader told hackers to attack hospitals, FBI, HHS say “The ransomware group linked to the cyberattack on Change Healthcare is also targeting hospitals, the FBI and HHS warned Feb. 27.
The BlackCat hacker gang has been focusing its attacks on the healthcare sector, with most of its 70 victims since December coming from that industry, according to the notice. The group's administrator encouraged affiliates to attack hospitals that month after the FBI infiltrated its operations.”
A Snapshot of Artificial Intelligence in Healtcare Based on research from Premier executives. It is interesting to contrast the priorities between the executive and physicians. The former see the best use of AI is in clinical care, while the latter see AI helping with administrative tasks. (See yesterday’s Blog post.)