In the News

• Op-Ed: Big data analytics in healthcare is all about ethics (Digital Journal)

• How Has Data Misuse Hurt COVID-19 Efforts? (Medscape)

• Partnering organizations are seeking to improve a provider’s ability to predict tumor response, leading to precision medicine in head and neck cancer care (IT Analytics)

• GAO report finds brokers offered false info on coverage for pre-existing conditions (The Hill)

• ED, Inpatient Volumes Stuck Despite Some Hospital Visit Recovery (RevCycle)

• A Pandemic Upshot: Seniors Are Having Second Thoughts About Where to Live (KHN)

• 66% of healthcare data breaches caused by hackers, HHS data shows (Beckers)

• 6 more health systems identified in Blackbaud security breach, bringing total to 27 (Beckers)
• Minnesota's second-largest health care data breach hits Children's, Allina (Star Tribune)
• Geisinger advises patients of privacy breach (TimesLeader)

• The healthcare challenge: Protecting patient data privacy during a global pandemic (ITPro)

• Study finds disparities in receipt of home health care after hospital discharge (News-Medical Net)

• JAMA Network: Assessment of Receipt of the First Home Health Care Visit After Hospital Discharge Among Older Adults

• VA data breach exposes information of 46,000 veterans (UPI)

• Senators say 17,000 community care providers also impacted in VA breach (FedScoop)
• Following Breach, VA Officials Assert Data Privacy and Security are Priority (MeriTalk)

• CMS issues hospital IPPS final rule for FY 2021(AHA)

• Closer Look at the Inpatient Prospective Payment System Final Rule
• Medicare to Increase Payments in FY 2021

• 2021 CPT code set released (AMA)

• Related: The changes to the 2021 CPT code set represent the first major overhaul of office visit and outpatient E/M coding in more than 25 years

• Connecticut hospital COVID-19 cases tied to nursing home outbreak (Beckers)

• New Aetna Health Plan Leverages CVS HealthHUBs, the narrow network health plan will incorporate lower cost sites of care (HealthPayer)

• Independent, smaller hospitals will need to make tough choices to survive COVID-19 financial crisis: analysis (Fierce Health)

• HHS Plan to Improve Rural Health Focuses on Better Broadband, Telehealth Services (KHN)

• Five Ways COVID-19 is Impacting Revenue Cycle Operations at Health Systems and Hospitals, According to Survey (PR Newswire)

• Private Equity-Acquired Hospitals Charge More for Common Services (RevCycle)

• Study: Changes in Hospital Income, Use, and Quality Associated With Private Equity Acquisition.

• Artificial Intelligence Tool Diagnoses Alzheimer’s with 95% Accuracy (HealthIT)

• Effect of Genotype-Guided Oral P2Y12 Inhibitor Selection vs Conventional Clopidogrel Therapy on Ischemic Outcomes After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (JAMA Network)

• Aetna fined for wrongful denial of EMS claims in California (Health Leaders)

• CMS issues rule requiring COVID-19 data reporting as Medicare condition of participation (AHA)

• Palliative care for surgical patients with serious illness reduces hospital length of stay (Business Insider)

• An increase in interoperability and access to patient data triggered an ePrescribing increase in 2019 (EHRIntelligence)

• Population-scale longitudinal mapping of COVID-19 symptoms, behaviour and testing (Nature)

• Related: Geographic Data Uncovers Trends in COVID-19 Mortality, Spread  and  Gaps in Early COVID-19 Data Contributed to Surge in US Cases

• Association of COVID-19-Related Hospital Use and Overall COVID-19 Mortality in the USA (Journal of General Internal Medicine)

• AHA urges HHS to make telehealth rollbacks permanent (HealthCareDive)

• Related: How Private Insurers Are Using Telehealth to Respond to the Pandemic

• Cleveland Clinic, Aetna launch co-branded insurance plan, expand members’ access to second opinions and cardiac care (Cleveland.com)

• Even with Relief Packages,Hospital Operating Margins Still Down Since Start of 2020 (HealthLeaders)

• Many COVID-19 cost-sharing waivers set to expire by October (HealthCare)

• Brief:Cost-Sharing Waivers and Premium Relief by Private Plans in Response to COVID-19 (Peterson-KFF)

• HCA the largest U.S. hospital owner accused in lawsuit of endangering staff during coronavirus pandemic (CNBC)

• Data Reveals Disparities in COVID-19 Hospitalization Rates (HealthIT)

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)
• 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:

• 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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