April 2, 2020 | It’s come to this: Sharing a ventilator

INDUSTRY NEWS

HITAC creates COVID-19 task force

The Health IT Advisory Committee is creating a coronavirus task force to tackle privacy and interoperability issues that are impeding frontline clinicians as they combat the growing outbreak. The task force wants to hear from front-line providers, says National Coordinator for Health IT Donald Rucker, MD. “The information that we get is filtered here in D.C. and it’s filtered through commercial interests and commercial spins. It’s helpful to hear directly from folks on the front lines. […] [I]t could serve as an early warning system about things coming up, that’s what is needed.” (FierceHealthcare)

States gets Medicaid flexibility during pandemic

As of the end of March, 34 states have received expedited 1135 Medicaid waivers in response to the COVID-19 crisis. CMS Centers will waive some requirements in Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP that give state Medicaid agencies flexibility and remove red tape that can hamper access to needed services. The provisions vary by state, the waiver will end upon termination of the public health emergency. The Kaiser Family Foundation has created an interactive resource to keep track of which states are implementing which provisions. (HealthLeaders Media; KFF)

Surprise billing, drug pricing legislation delayed?

It looks like legislation to lower drug prices and protect patients from surprise medical bills won’t be considered until after the November election. Despite different approaches by the GOP and the Democrats, the issue was seen as a rare example of bipartisan accord. (The Hill)

INNOVATION & TRANSFORMATION

Washington group deploys self-assessment tool 

Physicians of Southwest Washington has been implementing Innovaccer’s COVID-19 Management System. It’s designed to allow provider organizations to drive self-assessments by individuals, educate them on next steps, offer telemedicine and virtual-triaging capabilities to doctors, and track and trace high-risk populations. Innovaccer is making the tool available at no cost. (Healthcare IT News)

It’s come to this: Sharing a ventilator

New York hospitals can now attempt to treat two coronavirus patients with a single ventilator. New York-Presbyterian Hospital developed a split-ventilation protocol; the New York State Department of Health quickly approved the practice. Ventilator splitting is “not ideal, but workable,” and may be necessary given some projections that suggest the state may need as many as 30,000 ventilators in the coming weeks, says Gov. Andrew Cuomo. (ABC News)

CONSUMERS & PROVIDERS

Physicians fear for their families

In a letter to Congress, about 50 physicians describe their fears for their families, due to the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE). Several described having few or no masks or gowns. Two said their health centers stopped testing for COVID-19 because there is not enough PPE to keep workers safe. Most remained nameless to avoid retribution. In addition to sharing physician stories, the letter asks for all the PPE to be released from the Strategic National Stockpile and that the stockpile be replenished with newly manufactured equipment that is steered to health care workers before retail stores. (Kaiser Health News; letter to Congress)

NEW & NOTED

More insurers waive COVID-19 costs: Cigna and Humana are the most recent insurers to announce plans to waive patient cost-sharing on all treatment for coronavirus, including FDA-approved medications and vaccines when they become available. Last month, CVS Health’s Aetna division became the first major carrier to do so. (CNBC)

Challenging observation status: Patients can now appeal to Medicare for reimbursement for nursing home stays that were initially not covered because their “inpatient” status had been changed to “observation.” This affects hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries. It does not apply to those whose doctors initially place them in observation under Medicare’s “two-midnight” rule. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Rethinking DNR: As the coronavirus pandemic continues, some hospitals are considering whether to make changes to do-not-resuscitate policies and practices. Such conversations are happening as hospitals brace for a surge of patients amid dwindling supplies. (CNN)

MULTI-MEDIA

Crisis hotlines see spike in calls

Crisis hotlines are staffing up as they receive an increasing number of calls. Millions of workers have been thrown into economic uncertainty. Family situations have changed, and social isolation makes it worse, especially for those already struggling with loneliness, addiction and depression. (WBUR)

MARKETVOICES...QUOTES WORTH READING

“We are physically bringing home bacteria and viruses […] We need PPE, and we need it now. We actually needed it yesterday.”—Dr. Hala Sabry, an emergency medicine physician outside Los Angeles who founded the Physician Moms Group on Facebook, quoted in Kaiser Health News