In the News

• Operating margins will be negative for more hospitals compared to the pre-pandemic period even if vaccine rollout goes smoothly and COVID-19 hospitalizations drop (Health Payer)

• COVID-19 in 2021:Pressure Continues on Hospital Margins (Kaufman Hall for AHA)
• Hospitals and Health Systems Continue to Face Unprecedented Financial Challenges due to COVID-19 (AHA)

• Trends in Use of Low-Value Care in Traditional Fee-for-Service Medicare and Medicare Advantage (JAMA Network)

• Real-world data at UT Southwestern showed that vaccinating healthcare workers led to a significant reduction of COVID-19 cases among employees (Health IT)

• Hinge Health’s State of MSK Report 2021 found that although patient outcomes remained stagnant in the past decade, cost for musculoskeletal care doubled (AJMC)

• Using Health Information Exchange Data Boosts Quality Reporting (EHR Intelligence)

• The Cost of Transferring Dialysis Care From the Employer-Based Market to Medicare (JAMA Network)

• MACPAC’s Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP offers Congress a number of timely recommendations (MEDPAC)

• FDA launches dashboard to track adverse events linked to COVID-19 products (Beckers)

• WTW survey: Few employers think COVID-19 vaccines should be mandatory for workers (Fierce Health)

• Accuracy Requirements for Cost-effective Suicide Risk Prediction Among Primary Care Patients in the US (JAMA Network)

• How the $1.9T COVID-19 Relief Package Impacts Medicaid, CHIP (HealthPayer)

• Related: Providers Blast Medicare Spending Cuts in COVID Relief Package

• AstraZeneca’s EU Vaccine Woes Deepen on Clots (Bloomberg)

• Cigna: Some COVID-19 patients report lingering neurological, heart conditions post-recovery (Fierce Health)

• Hospital Emergency Rooms:

• Emergency Rooms Struggle With Overdose Spike During Pandemic (KUT/NPR)
• Children hospital and emegency room visits in decline (WSMV)
• Study shows high risk of anxiety, burnout in emergency department healthcare workers from COVID-19 (MedXpress)

• Why some rural enrollees in Medicare Advantage are switching to traditional Medicare (MedXpress)

• Working Paper: Does Private Equity Investment in Healthcare Benefit Patients- Evidence from Nursing Homes (National Bureau of Economic Research/nbrg.org)

• Forty-nine states have integrated an immunization information system into the EHR, which helps streamline patient immunization data during COVID-19 vaccination distribution (EHR)

• UMN research links early iron deficiency with long-term mental health impacts (Minnesota Daily)

• Researchers are using genomic data to explore precision medicine treatments for patients with prostate cancer (HealthIT)

• Opinion: 2020 devastated US mental health — healing must be a priority (Hill on MSN)

• COVID-19 Lowered Medicare Care Utilization (HealthPayer)

• Related: For Medicare Patients, Race Has Greater Impact on COVID-19 Than Telehealth

• Strong and sustainable primary healthcare is associated with a lower risk of hospitalization in high risk patients (Nature)

• Take-at-home tests boost colorectal cancer screening tenfold for health center serving minorities (Med Express)

• Related: Delaying colonoscopy following abnormal stool test increases risk of colorectal cancer

• Oregon ASC Association argues against proposed bill to limit Mergers and Acquisitions (Beckers)

• New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s application to build a 66-bed facility in Scotts Hill North Carolina has been denied by the state (WECT)

• Many Uninsured Adults Have Not Tried to Enroll in Medicaid or Marketplace Coverage: Findings from the September 2020 Coronavirus Tracking Survey (RWJ)

• Payers that consolidate Medicare Advantage plans with lower star ratings into plans with higher star ratings deliver higher quality of care for enrollees who were previously in low-rated plans (HealthPayer)

• Related: Medicare Increases Access to Care, Affordability for Seniors

• Healthcare, once a job-creating dynamo in the U.S. economy, has shed 542,000 jobs since February 2020; 30,000 in January 2021 (Health Leaders)

• EHR Vendor Athenahealth Pays $18M to Settle Kickback Allegations (Medpage)

• BMA (Better Medicare Alliance) study offers recommendations to improve Medicare Advantage beneficiary surveys (Fierce Health)

• Study Report: BMA-Patient-Experience-Policy-Report

• 4 Vital Health Issues — Not Tied to Covid — That Congress Addressed in Massive Spending Bill (KHN)

• If this self-sufficient hospital cannot stand alone, can any public hospital survive? (Modern Healthcare)

• Rural hospital closures add at least 20 miles to patient travel, GAO says (Beckers)

• GAO Report Highlights and Fast Facts
• Full Report : Rural Hospitals Affected Residents Had Reduced Access to Health Care Services (PDF)

Blogs We Follow

Popular Site Destinations

Job Bank

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Federal Agency Blogs

COVID-19 Information

Starting Points:

• U. S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

• CASES, DATA & SURVEILLANCE

• State Health Departments
• NACCHO Directory Local Health Departments
• CMS Nursing Home Covid Data (1st report 5/24/2020)

• Related GAO Report: Infection Control Deficiencies Were Widespread and Persistent in Nursing Homes Prior to COVID-19 Pandemic

Guides & Resources for Reopening Workspaces:

• Kaiser Permanente Releases COVID-19 Playbook: Planning For The Next Normal At Work
• CDC Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers Responding to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

• CDC Workplace Decision Tree
• Summary of CDC guidelines on reopening businesses after the pandemic (Tech Republic)

Additional Resources:

• Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform (CHQPR) Report Summary on Pandemic and Rural Hospital Closure Risk
• Four COVID Vaccines Compared (Medscape)
• CDC’s COVID-19 Vaccination Program Interim Playbook for Jurisdiction Operations
• The Costs of Coronavirus (JAMA Network)
• Largest COVID-19 contact tracing study to date finds children key to spread, evidence of superspreaders (Princeton)
• Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (National Acadamies 2020)
• National Insitutes of Health
• John Hopkins ABX Guide: Coronavirus COVID-19
• The Covid Tracking Project:
• Oxford Martin School’s Our World Data -Covid 19
• University Of Minnesotta CIDRAP Covid Resources
• JAMA Sponsored Live Stream Q & A with CDC
• Kaiser Family Foundation COVID-19 News and Reports
• NEJM : A collection of articles and other resources on the Coronavirus (Covid-19)
• Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME): COVID-19 Resources
• Xtelligent Healthcare: Ongoing Updates on Latest Coronavirus for the Healthcare Community
• Penn Center for Research on Coronavirus and Other Emerging Pathogens Webinars (You Tube Channel)

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