December 12, 2019 | Amazon’s virtual scribe goes live
December 12, 2019
INDUSTRY NEWS
Research: Consolidation doesn’t boost quality
Consolidation isn’t improving quality for rural hospitals, according to research published in Health Affairs. Moreover, evidence suggests that consolidation could impair access to care. Among other issues, researchers found significant reductions in the availability of obstetric and primary care at rural hospitals post-consolidation. “While joining health systems may improve rural hospitals’ financial performance, affiliation may reduce access to services for patients in rural areas,” researchers concluded. (Health Affairs; FierceHealthcare)
Still seeing relatively slow growth in health care spending
A new report from the Department of Health and Human Services shows the nation remains in a period of “relatively slow growth in health spending,” according to the New York Times. Health spending in the United States rose by 4.6% in 2018, vs. 4.2% percent in 2017. Federal officials said the slight acceleration was largely the result of reinstating a tax on health insurers. But still, it’s relatively slow: For years, economists attributed the slowdown to the lagging effects of the recession. But as it has continued, they increasingly point to changes in care delivery. (New York Times)
INNOVATION & TRANSFORMATION
States start to remove barriers to telehealth
Although 42 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws encouraging health insurance plans to cover telehealth services, only 16 specifically address reimbursement, according to a new report from law firm Foley & Lardner. The good news is that while state laws have inhibited the growth of telehealth services, that’s changing. A recent piece in Cardiovascular Business explores the telemedicine challenges and opportunities for physicians. (Foley & Lardner report; Cardiovascular Business; Healthcare Dive)
Amazon’s virtual scribe goes live
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched Amazon Transcribe Medical, an automated speech recognition service that allows developers to add medical diction and documentation to their apps. Ideally, this virtual medical scribe will allow clinicians to spend more time with patients and less time typing. “Our overarching goal is to free up the doctor, so they have more attention going to where it should be directed,” said Matt Wood, VP of artificial intelligence at AWS. “And that’s to the patient.” (MobiHealthNews; CNBC)
CONSUMERS & PROVIDERS
Millennials less satisfied with their plans than others
Americans are generally satisfied with their health plans—but Millennials will be pushing insurers to modernize, according to HealthEdge’s most recent Voice of the Market survey. “Millennials trust their current insurance company the least relative to other generations, and they are more likely than other generations to trust government-run insurance.” For example, Millennials were the least satisfied group with how insurers communicate, with only 62% rating it satisfactory. (Fierce Healthcare; survey)
Value catches on, but so far, more carrots than sticks
More than half of all commercial plan payments to hospitals in 2017 were earmarked toward some form of value-oriented or alternative payment, according to the Catalyst for Payment Reform—up from 10.2% in 2012. However, 90% of the value-oriented payments were built off the fee-for-service infrastructure. In total, 53% of all payments made by health plans to hospitals were tied to a value-oriented or alternative payment method. But few of those dollars had strings or penalties attached. (Healthcare Dive)
NEW & NOTED
Hospitals sue HHS: Hospital groups sued Health and Human Services last week alleging the agency lacks the authority to require hospitals to publicly reveal the prices they have negotiated with private insurers. Among the plaintiffs: The American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Federation of American Hospitals. (Medscape Medical News)
Declining life expectancy: Life expectancy in the U.S. has been on the decline since 2014, largely due to middle-aged deaths from drug overdoses, suicides and organ system diseases, according to research published in JAMA. (JAMA)
Incentivizing primary care: The University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix will offer free tuition to qualifying med students who agree to practice primary care in Arizona’s underserved communities for at least two years after their residency. (Arizona Daily Star)
MULTI-MEDIA
More rural closings—this time, Mayo
Mayo Clinic on Wednesday announced it will close facilities in Springfield and Lamberton in southwestern Minnesota in March. Representatives from Mayo and the Bipartisan Policy Center discuss the reasons and the implications of the closings. (Minnesota Public Radio)
MARKETVOICES...QUOTES WORTH READING
“Spending has to slow down when it gets so big. There’s no question that there are efforts all across the environment to try to control this beast..some of them are working.”—Paul Hughes-Cromwick, the co-director of sustainable health spending strategies at the research group Altarum, on why health care spending growth remains relatively modest, in the New York Times