August 13, 2020 | No CVD benefit from cannabis

INDUSTRY NEWS

Data breaches high, but down from 2019

Providers, insurers and their business associates reported 28 data breaches affecting more than 1.1 million patients in July. Although 2020 is on track to be the year with the second-highest number of reported data breaches, July 2020 was down 95.8% from July of 2019, according to data from HHS’ Office of Civil Rights. July’s largest breach: Florida Orthopaedic Institute reported that 40,000 people were affected by an attack that targeted network servers. Modern Healthcare provides an interactive list. (Modern Healthcare*)

Huge profits for insurers draw congressional attention

While much of the industry struggles with the impact of COVID-19, health insurers saw Q2 profits soar. That’s leading to increased scrutiny, Fierce Healthcare reports. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is launching an investigation. The highest profit earner for the quarter was UnitedHealth Group, with $6.6 billion in Q2 earnings. Insurers aren’t the only ones doing well: All the nation's largest for-profit hospital chains saw higher profits, and some more than tripled their net income compared to last year, Healthcare Dive reports. (Fierce Healthcare; Healthcare Dive)

INNOVATION & TRANSFORMATION

Don’t just get telehealth: Get it right

In a Healthcare IT News special report, telehealth technology experts from Amwell, Caregility, Eko and emocha Health share some of their best practices and insights for optimizing telehealth. One recommendation: When implementing telemedicine programs, provider organizations will see the best results if they use technology that is scalable across a variety of use cases and can accommodate various clinical workflows. (Healthcare IT News)

VA restarts massive EHR project 

After pandemic-related delays, the VA will resume its rollout of its $16 billion Cerner EHR project. The VA had planned to bring its first site—Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane—live in March. Now, the agency is looking at October. Despite the delay and a new timeline, VA officials said the new implementation schedule will wrap up in the planned 10-year time frame, as the agency had laid out when it signed the contract with Cerner Corp. in 2018. (Modern Healthcare*; VA announcement)

CONSUMERS & PROVIDERS

Mental health ED visits up 2007-2016

Emergency department visits related to mental health conditions increased significantly from 2007–2008 to 2015–2016, according to the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. The proportion of ED visits for mental health diagnoses increased from 6.6% to 10.9%; substance use accounted for much of the increase. The findings were published online in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. The survey also found that only 57.4% of adults with mental illness reported in 2017 that they had received no mental health treatment in the past year. (Medscape Medical News; Journal of Clinical Psychiatry)

PC practices far from recovery

While many primary care practices have seen business pick up significantly since the lows of March and April, few have come close to full recovery, “which is perilous for practices that operate with low margins in the best of times,” according to the Pew Charitable Trust’s Stateline. The crisis has pushed many PCPs—especially those in small, unaffiliated practices—to the brink of insolvency. (Stateline)

NEW & NOTED

Medicaid increase less than expected: Reversing a three-year decline, the number of people covered by Medicaid rose dramatically in the wake of the COVID-19-driven recession. However, the growth was less than many analysts predicted. One reason could be that people simply have more pressing concerns than obtaining health coverage. (Kaiser Health News)

Will Congress lift UPI ban? The House recently voted to approve the bipartisan Foster-Kelly Amendment, which would effectively lift the ban on federal funding for the adoption of a unique patient identifier. It’s part of the six-bill FY2021 “minibus” package. (Healthcare Finance News)

No CVD benefit from cannabis: There is no documented benefit of cannabis use for CVD prevention or treatment, according to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. In fact, preliminary evidence suggests cannabis use may have a negative impact on the heart and blood vessels. (Cardiovascular Business; AHA statement)

MULTI-MEDIA

When to don a mask: an ethicist’s perspective

In this video, NYU medical ethicist Art Caplan, PhD, goes over the basic common-sense rules of wearing—and not wearing—a mask. He emphasizes personal responsibility and drives home the point that masks are not political statements. “They should not be statements about whether you support one person or another person in terms of their policies. It’s not a Democrat or Republican issue but a public health issue.” (Medscape video)

MARKETVOICES...QUOTES WORTH READING

“I'm so strident about this that I’ve suggested that if you go out in mass public events [without a mask], whether you’re at the lake, the bar, or a protest, and you get sick or you go home and make others sick, then you ought to think about volunteering to go to the end of the healthcare line, because you’ve acted so irresponsibly and dangerously.” —NYU medical ethicist Art Caplan, PhD, in his weekly Medscape video.