August 19, 2021 | NYT: Caregiving is becoming unsustainable

INDUSTRY NEWS

Veterans pushing for legalized medical cannabis

Veterans have been advancing medical marijuana legalization for decades, and now their voices may be even more powerful. The 14 states that have yet to either legalize marijuana or enact comprehensive medical marijuana programs are mostly southern, Republican-dominated states, Kaiser Health News reports. “The group carrying the message here makes a huge difference,” said Julius Hobson Jr., a former AMA lobbyist. “When you’ve got veterans coming in advocating for that, and they’re considered to be a more conservative bunch of folks, that has more impact.” (KHN)

Pandemic reveals failures in diabetes care

COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the 10% of Americans with diabetes, including many who never contracted the virus, a Reuters special report concludes. According to the CDC, at least 40% of those who died with COVID-19 also had diabetes. That figure doesn’t include those who never got sick from the virus “but fell victim to the isolation and disruption it caused.” Deaths from diabetes last year surged 17% to more than 100,000, and those aged 25 to 44 suffered the sharpest increase with a 29% jump in deaths. In contrast, all other deaths, except those directly attributed to the coronavirus, rose 6%. (Reuters)

INNOVATION & TRANSFORMATION

Who needs proactive telehealth tech support?

Johns Hopkins researchers have developed an EHR-embedded calculator that identifies patients likely to need technical telehealth assistance, allowing someone to contact the patient before their visit. It automatically calculates the risk score, which ranges from zero to four. “This approach can help make telemedicine more equitable and ease the extraordinary burden that the pandemic has imposed on care providers’ support staffs,” the researchers report.” (Harvard Business Review; Becker's Hospital Review)

CMS articulates its vision

For CMS, the future of value-based care rests on reducing the number of CMS payment models and increasing the focus on health equity. CMS plans to prioritize coordinated, team-based care, outcome measurements that matter to patients and holding providers more accountable, top CMS officials wrote in a Health Affairs Blog post. Their objective: a health system that eliminates disparities through high-quality, affordable and person-centered care. The agency plans to put health care equity at the center of each model going forward. (Modern Healthcare*; Health Affairs Blog)

Telehealth waivers: Pandora’s box?

Some changes to federal health care rulemaking that occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic aren't likely to go away after it ends, according to several speakers at the HIMSS annual meeting. The pandemic forced CMS "to go in ways that CMS, just frankly, has never gone before[,] and they had to go very quickly," said Kim Brandt, a partner at consulting firm Tarplin, Downs & Young and former deputy administrator at CMS. The agency issued more than 150 waivers to cover telehealth. "[F]or telehealth in particular, it's opened a Pandora's box, which is not going back.” (MedPage Today)

CONSUMERS & PROVIDERS

NYT: Caregiving is becoming unsustainable

Our caregiving workforce is in trouble. Paid providers are overworked, underpaid and undervalued, the New York Times reports. Meanwhile, family caregivers are struggling, sacrificing their own health and well-being. It’s becoming unsustainable, and something has to give. “We can’t have a strong economy if we have millions of people working as full-time caregivers and making so little that they are still living in poverty,” says Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. “We can’t have a strong economy when we have millions of other people dropping out of the work force to take care of elderly loved ones.” (New York Times*)

NEW & NOTED

Pulse on Reimbursement Survey: The GTMRx Institute released a 5-minute survey, open until Aug. 25, seeking insight into successful payment models in place for CMM services. If you're organization is providing CMM services, your input is welcomed. (survey)

Value-based partnership: CareMax, a tech-enabled platform providing value-based care and chronic disease management to seniors, is collaborating with Anthem to build dozens of medical facilities in an effort to boost value-based care, the companies report. (Modern Healthcare*; announcement)

Boosters get blessing: The CDC now recommends that people with weakened immune systems get a third shot of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine. The recommendation came less than 24 hours after the FDA authorized such use. (NPR)

Remote CMM assessed: The August issue of the Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy focuses on the provision of comprehensive medication management via telehealth. The reports include in the issue help fill that gap, but continuous evaluation and refinement are essential, according to the introductory editorial. (JACCP)

MULTI-MEDIA

COVID renews interest in radon mines

Radon is commonly considered a dangerous gas, but some people in pain travel to Montana and pay to breathe, drink and bathe in it. And now, others are turning to it to protect them from COVID. They consider radon exposure as low-dose radiation therapy for an array of health problems. In this podcast, Katheryn Houghton discusses her recent Kaiser Health News article that explores this sort of radiation therapy. (Voices of Montana podcast; KHN News)

MARKETVOICES...QUOTES WORTH READING

“From here on, the Innovation Center will embed equity in every aspect of its models by seeking to include more providers serving low- and modest-income, racially diverse and/or rural populations; the Innovation Center will aim to ensure everyone has access to providers at the leading edge of transformation.”—CMS and CMS Innovation Center leaders, articulating their vision in a Health Affairs Blog post