February 18, 2021 | PCPs ready to vaccinate, but they’re ignored
INDUSTRY NEWS
PCPs ready to vaccinate, but they’re ignored
More than 80% of primary care practices are willing to help with COVID-19 vaccine distribution, according to a January survey from The Larry A. Green Center, the Primary Care Collaborative and 3rd Conversation. However, 25% of those who could administer COVID-19 vaccinations lack access to the vaccines, and 32% were not included in rollout efforts. “It will be another tragedy in a long line of missteps if we don’t equip these trusted doctors with the vaccine and resources they need to reach so many individuals in our communities,” Christine Bechtel of 3rd Conversation said in a prepared statement. (Healio; PCC)
Value-based care a COVID casualty?
The pandemic appears to have set back value-based care: Provider and payer organizations have shifted away from innovative payment models to address more immediate concerns, according to research from Xtelligent Healthcare Media. Industry experts surveyed are unsure when revenue levels, patient volume and operational efficiency will return to pre-pandemic levels and allow for value-based care efforts to continue. Such uncertainty makes negotiations and innovation challenging for provider organizations. (Health Payer Intelligence; Value-Based Care Assessment: 2020)
INNOVATION & TRANSFORMATION
The Biden administration is considering creating the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health to support health care innovations, according to Fast Company. It would pay academics and private companies to develop innovative health products and services, along the lines of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), whose work helped create the internet. The goal: a government engine that could help advance innovation that could solve persistent problems: high drug costs, lack of treatments for rare diseases, poor systems of care and pandemic preparedness. (Fast Company)
Telehealth “passport” cuts through licensing red tape
Provider Bridge, a license-portability initiative, will allow certain clinicians to work across state lines. Clinicians can register and receive a digital Provider Bridge Passport, which collects their active licenses, disciplinary history, specialty certifications and DEA registration and NPI numbers. The clinicians can then submit that passport to a health system, hospital or other care provider in need of help. It’s currently limited to physicians and physician assistants, but the Federation of State Medical Boards plans to expand the program to other health care professionals. (mHealth Intelligence)
CONSUMERS & PROVIDERS
PCPs will need telehealth help going forward
Primary care practices were quick to shift to telehealth as the pandemic surged, but they will need more targeted support moving forward, according to a policy brief from Urban Institute. Practices reported much of the support they received came from their communities, but they would benefit from more support from payers. "In large part, PCPs’ response to COVID-19 was a bottom-up process, with PCP practices making mostly independent, rapid and varied decisions to fundamentally shift the way they deliver care," the researchers wrote. (FierceHealthcare; policy brief)
Rural counties already have a lower density of primary care physicians than urban counties, and that gap is expanding, according to a research letter published in JAMA Network Open. The likely result: Decreased access to care among rural populations, author Sara R. Machado, PhD, tells Healio Primary Care. She also suggests the pandemic could have a positive effect. “If there is a greater focus on remote appointments, combined with the reorganization of office work which may lead people to opt for living in less metropolitan areas, it may actually be a driver for greater physician density in rural communities.” (Healio Primary Care; JAMA Network Open)
NEW & NOTED
Missed screenings not so bad? The pandemic-driven drop in cancer screening may not be a bad thing, STAT News reports; it may help aid research on overdiagnosis. “It’s counterintuitive, but catching cancer early isn’t always for the best. And the coronavirus pandemic might leave lessons for future cancer screening in its wake.” (STAT News)
Retail innovation update: Retail giants have spent the last year launching and revamping virtual care initiatives. Becker’s Hospital Review provides a roundup of Walmart, Amazon, Sam’s Club, CVS and Walgreens’ efforts. One example: CVS Health added $59 telehealth visits in Georgia and Massachusetts through its MinuteClinics. Most Aetna plans cover the cost. (Becker's Hospital Review)
Noncompliant, opaque hospitals: Many hospitals are ignoring a new rule designed to give consumers information about prices. One reason: The $300/day fine isn't much of an incentive. (The Washington Post*; Kaiser Health News)
MULTI-MEDIA
Unlocking charity care policies
Jared Walker runs Dollar For, an organization that helps people pay medical bills. His TikTok video explaining how to “crush” hospital bills via charity care policies has been viewed more than 10 million times. He is a guest on the KHN podcast, "An arm and a leg.” (TikTok video; KHN podcast)
MARKETVOICES...QUOTES WORTH READING
“Primary care can act as a superhighway to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine; however, all signs continue to show systemic exclusion of the existing primary care infrastructure that vaccinates 46% of the adult population and 72% of the pediatric population every year,” —The Green Center’s Rebecca Etz, PhD, in a prepared statement