• At HCA-owned Chippenham Hospital – and others – patients pay thousands more at for-profit trauma centers (Richmond Times)

• UnitedHealthcare delays controversial ER policy following backlash (HealthcareDive)

• Biggest health insurer plans to deny ER bills if it doubts you had an emergency (ArsTechnica)

• Superior Court judge dismisses latest legal challenge against CON (Carolina Coast)

• Many surgery patients get opioid prescriptions, but many don't need to, study suggests (MedicalExpress)

• Health costs to likely go up 6.5% in 2022 as systems invest in supply chain, digital health (HealthPayer)

• Lawmakers are feeling pressure': States push ahead on public health insurance to lower costs, improve access (MSN/USA)

• Montana Med School Clash Revives For-Profit Vs. Nonprofit Flap (KHN)

• For-Profit Medical Schools, Once Banished, Are Sneaking Back (Century Foundation)

• Late-night Car Crashes Drop As Partygoers Uber Home (International Business Times)

• Study: Association of Rideshare Use With Alcohol-Associated Motor Vehicle Crash Trauma (JAMA Network)

• Judge tosses Houston Methodist vaccine mandate lawsuit (Houston Chronicle)

• Why some COVID-19 patients suffer from low oxygen levels: 4 new study findings (Beckers)

• Some fear new Michigan no-fault auto insurance rule will force victims into nursing homes (Detroit FreePress)

• Bill on lower-cost health plans passes Nevada Assembly, returns to Senate to concur (LasVegas Review-Journal)

• Tennessee governor signs off on unemployment, certificate-of-need reform (CenterSquare)

• U.S. Consumers Often Lack Literacy In Healthcare Finances (Forbes)

• In California, Nursing Home Owners Can Operate After They're Denied A License (NPR)

• COVID pounded nursing homes in a series of deadly outbreaks, says new GAO report (NJ.com)

• Covid-19: in Nursing Homes Most Homes Had Multiple Outbreaks and Weeks of Sustained Transmission from May 2020 through January 2021 (GAO)

• Hospital at Home: Delivering hospital-level care without the hospital (Hospitalist)

• Kaiser Permanente, Mayo team up on investment in acute care at home (HealthCareDive)

• At a Glance - Regulatory Advisory: Hospital Inpatient PPS Proposed Rule for FY 2022 (AHA)

• CMS inpatient prospective payment system (PPS) and long-term care hospital (LTCH) PPS proposed rule for fiscal year (FY) 2022

• Study:Medicare-Covered Older Adults Are Satisfied with Their Coverage, Have Similar Access to Care as Privately-Insured Adults Ages 50 to 64, And Fewer Report Cost-Related Problems (KFF)

• CON law elimination sets off inpatient rehab rush in Florida (Modern Health Care - Subscription required)

• Nearly a dozen medical groups have asked HHS Secretary Becerra to walk back changes to ACO quality reporting in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (RevCycle)

• Medicaid premiums can result in enrollee dropouts and increased costs (McKnights)

• National Bureau of Economic Research: Adverse Selection in Medicaid

• Early detection of ovarian cancer does not translate into saving lives (NewsMedicalNet)     

• Summary: Ovarian cancer population screening and mortality after long-term follow-up in the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS): a randomised controlled trial (Lancet)

• Certificate-of-need reform passes Tennessee General Assembly (MSN)

• An artificial intelligence system for predicting the deterioration of COVID-19 patients in the emergency department (Nature)

• Two publicly available data analytics resources can help policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders develop improved population health strategies (HealthIT)

• Study:Changing the “Family Glitch” Would Make Health Coverage More Affordable for Many Families (Urban Institute)

• Study: Using deep neural networks and interpretability methods to identify gene expression patterns that predict radiomic features and histology in non-small cell lung cancer (Journal Medical Imaging)

• Unnecessary MRI exams may be symptoms of a larger healthcare problem (MedicalExpress)

• In efforts to speed up the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, the Biden administration has announced its support for waiving COVID-19 vaccine intellectual property (PhamrNews)

• EU Tepid on Biden Call to Waive Intellectual Property Rights for Covid-19 Vaccines (Wall Street Journal)
• Vaccine patent waivers face more hurdles despite Biden support (MSN/The Hill)

• Predictive Analytics Model Forecasts Disease Spread, Trends (HealthPayer)

• Study: A kernel-modulated SIR model for Covid-19 contagious spread from county to continent
• Related:Predictive Analytics Model Underperforms in Black Populations (HealthIT)

• Physicians in independent practice now minority in US (HealthcareDive)

• AMA Policy Perpsecitve:Recent Changes in Physician Practice Arrangements

• When hospitals buy physician groups, Medicare spending increases, study finds (Becker’s)

In the News

Blogs We Follow

Popular Site Destinations

Job Bank

No current postings at AHPA

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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