February 25, 2021 | Is care quality declining because of pandemic? Maybe
INDUSTRY NEWS
Brooks-LaSure to lead CMS, Fowler to lead CMMI
President Joe Biden has nominated Chiquita Brooks-LaSure as CMS administrator. She brings more than 20 years of experience in health policy and in the Obama administration, helped guide the ACA through passage and implementation. Most recently, she has worked at the law firm Manat. He also tapped Elizabeth Fowler, PhD, to lead the CMS Innovation Center. Fowler, an architect of the ACA, has served as executive vice president for programs at the Commonwealth Fund since 2019. (Becker's Hospital Review; Healthcare Dive)
ACA led to lower uninsured rate among those 19-25
The uninsured rate among adults 19 to 25 dropped from 30% to 16% between 2011 and 2018, largely due to the expansion of Medicaid coverage. That’s one finding from a new report by the Urban Institute. Researchers estimate that Medicaid expansion was associated with a 3.6% drop in the overall number of young adults without health insurance. Other factors include eligibility to buy coverage from the ACA marketplaces and the ability stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26. (Philadelphia Inquirer; Urban Institute report)
INNOVATION & TRANSFORMATION
2020 health care breaches cost $13.2B
Last year saw a surge in the volume of health care data breach incidents in the US, according to Bitglass’ Healthcare Breach Report. Breaches increased 55% compared to 2019. The 599 breaches affected more than 26.4 million people. Most (67%) of the breaches were attributed to hacking and IT incidents from external attackers. Loss or theft of devices came next, followed by unauthorized disclosure of data by internal parties or systems. The average cost per breached record increased from $429 to $499 from 2019 to 2020, costing health care organizations $13.2 billion.(Infosecurity Magazine)
CONSUMERS & PROVIDERS
Is care quality declining because of pandemic? Maybe
Some experts fear that the pandemic has impaired patient safety, Modern Healthcare reports. When the pandemic began, health care organizations made changes that often disrupted the reporting systems and practices they had in place to ensure high quality care. Other factors include exhausted staff and increases in nurses taking leaves of absence or quitting all together. There’s little hard data—yet—to validate these concerns. However, CDC data shows that there were 225,530 more deaths than anticipated from March 1 to Aug. 1, 2020; only about a third were directly attributed to COVID-19. (Modern Healthcare*)
Family caregivers not essential enough?
Tens of thousands of middle-aged children care for older relatives with serious conditions, but they are too young to qualify for a vaccine themselves, Kaiser Health News reports. These unpaid caregivers routinely administer medications, monitor blood pressure, cook, clean and help relatives wash, get dressed, etc. They may be essential, but most can’t obtain the COVID-19 vaccine. A few exceptions are emerging, including at the VA and in Arizona, Illinois and South Carolina, but even there, not every caregiver is covered. (Kaiser Health News)
Fertility the latest anti-vaxxer myth
False claims tying the coronavirus to infertility are taking hold. “I’m worried, frankly. There are stories out there on the Internet about how vaccination can lead to infertility. There’s absolutely nothing to that. But when we look at people who are expressing hesitancy, in many instances those are women of childbearing age,” NIH Director Francis Collins tells the Washington Post. (Washington Post)
NEW & NOTED
New HIE consortium announced: The Consortium for State and Regional Interoperability is the newest 501(c)(3) dedicated to robust electronic health data exchange. Among the members are CRISP, covering Maryland, DC and West Virginia; Colorado Regional Health Information Organization; and CyncHealth, covering Nebraska and Iowa. (HealthLeaders Media; announcement)
More patients use apps for med: Americans are becoming savvier about drug costs: A recent survey by software company CoverMyMeds found that 43% of patient surveyed used a pharmacy comparison app to find cheaper medication prices (up from 28% the previous year). (Becker's Hospital Review; survey results)
Capps to Biden Administration: Reform medication management: As the Biden administration advances its health care agenda, it must recognize the need for medication management reform, writes GTMRx Executive Director Katherine Capps. “Including high quality, patient-centered comprehensive medication management (CMM) services as the national standard of care will improve patient outcomes, reduce health care costs and save lives.” (MedCity News)
MULTI-MEDIA
This two-minute video from the American Academy of Family Physicians offers an inspirational look at everyday heroes and ends with a call to vaccinate. “With one shot, you could save lives. […] Be a hero, get vaccinated.” (FamilyDoctor.org)
MARKETVOICES...QUOTES WORTH READING
“In all but name, they’re essential health care workers, taking care of patients who are very sick, many of whom are completely reliant upon them, some of whom are dying. Yet, we don’t recognize or support them as such, and that’s a tragedy.”—Katherine Ornstein, a caregiving expert and associate professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine at Mount Sinai’s medical school in New York City, on the inability of caregivers to get a vaccine, in Kaiser Health News