About the public’s health
Over-the-counter home test for COVID-19 gets US green light: “U.S. regulators Tuesday authorized the rapid coronavirus test, which can be done entirely at home…
Regulators granted emergency use for a similar home test last month, but that one needs a doctor’s prescription…
The kit includes a nasal swab, a chemical solution and a testing strip. The test connects digitally to a smart phone app that displays the results and then helps interpret them. Users can also connect with a health professional via the app.” Priced at about $30 per test, it is still too expensive to do frequently.
KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: December 2020: This research is an update on who wants to receive the vaccine. While the rates of acceptance are rising, there are still segments of the population who will refuse to get it:
“About a quarter (27%) of the public remains vaccine hesitant, saying they probably or definitely would not get a COVID-19 vaccine even if it were available for free and deemed safe by scientists. Vaccine hesitancy is highest among Republicans (42%), those ages 30-49 (36%), and rural residents (35%). Importantly, 35% of Black adults…say they definitely or probably would not get vaccinated, as do one third of those who say they have been deemed essential workers (33%) and three in ten (29%) of those who work in a health care delivery setting.”
Dashboards | Covid-19 Diagnostics: The Rockefeller Foundation provides an interactive, online dashboard of COVID-19 diagnostics :
”This set of interactive dashboards provides users with a mechanism to sort and filter three separate databases using key product features (including diagnostic target, platform type, sensitivity, specificity, time to results, throughput, etc.). While they function in a similar manner, the selection and sort criteria vary depending upon which of the three databases is being viewed: tests, swabs, or equipment.”
Patient-Reported Experiences of Discrimination in the US Health Care System: “In this nationally representative cross-sectional survey study, 21% of 2137 US adult survey respondents indicated that they had experienced discrimination in the health care system, and 72% of those who had experienced discrimination reported experiencing it more than once. Racial/ethnic discrimination was the most frequently reported type of discrimination respondents experienced.” The rate of discrimination is higher than commonly believed. Clearly, enhanced training and awareness needs to be implemented.
Household Transmission of SARS-CoV-2: “In this meta-analysis of 54 studies with 77 758 participants, the estimated overall household secondary attack rate was 16.6%, higher than observed secondary attack rates for SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus. Controlling for differences across studies, secondary attack rates were higher in households from symptomatic index cases than asymptomatic index cases, to adult contacts than to child contacts, to spouses than to other family contacts, and in households with 1 contact than households with 3 or more contacts..
These findings suggest that households are and will continue to be important venues for transmission, even in areas where community transmission is reduced.”
About pharma
Feds rebuff Pfizer’s pleas to speed up supplies of COVID vaccine raw materials: reports: “Pfizer could provide more than the 100 million doses it promised in its original contract with the U.S. government in the first half of next year—but only if Trump administration officials demand that suppliers of raw materials quickly fulfill the company’s orders. And CEO Albert Bourla is calling on the government to use the Defense Production Act to do just that.
The Trump administration hasn't done so yet because they’ve focused on providing those materials to vaccine makers that did take federal R&D funding, like Moderna, according to unnamed sources who spoke to the New York Times.”
Trump's drug cards clear key hurdle following pressure from White House: “…the Special Interest Group for Inventory Information Approval System Standards, or SIGIS, helps govern electronic point-of-sale transactions, and its approval is essential for mass-producing millions of cards.
The panel had come under pressure from the White House and Treasury Department to support the plan. After weeks of appeals from the administration, it did so Monday — stunning even some officials who were involved with the plan and believed the panel wouldn't budge.”
Centene makes deal to acquire rare disease specialty pharmacy PANTHERx: “Centene announced a deal to acquire PANTHERx, the largest specialty pharmacy in the U.S. which specializes in dispensing orphan drugs that treat rare diseases.
The insurer did not disclose the financial terms of the deal that was announced Tuesday. It is the latest move by an insurer to acquire a specialty pharmacy that dispenses high-cost drugs.”
About healthcare IT
Cerner Announces Agreement to Acquire Health Division of Kantar: “Cerner Corporation… today announced an agreement to acquire Kantar Health, a division of Kantar Group, for $375 million in cash, subject to adjustment. Kantar Health is a leading data, analytics and real-world evidence and commercial research consultancy serving the life science industry. With this acquisition, Cerner plans to harness data to improve the safety, efficiency and efficacy of clinical research across life sciences, pharmaceuticals and health care at large. This acquisition is expected to allow Cerner’s Learning Health Network SM client consortium to more directly engage with life sciences for funded research studies.”
Amazon wants to offer primary care to other employers, report says: “The program offers employees telemedicine and in-person healthcare services. Virtual services include in-app visits with a physician, nurse practitioner or nurse for employees seeking medical advice, diagnosis, treatment or referrals.
Now, Amazon plans to sell Amazon Care to other large companies in an effort to help them lower the cost of healthcare, according to the report. The company plans to save companies money by bypassing health plans and brokers.”
About hospitals and health systems
The potential for rapid consolidation of health systems: From a Deloitte report:
”The top 10 health systems now control 24% market share and their revenue grew at twice the rate of the rest of the market…
Compared to today, in 2030, we expect:
· Inpatient hospital revenue will be 35% lower.
· The demand for hospital beds will be 44% lower (our median estimate), meaning hospitals will be smaller and there will be fewer hospitals…
· Of the 390 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) across the United States, 61 are most likely to see consolidation based on our forecasted 67% lower demand for hospitals beds in their MSA.
· Hospitals in the other 329 MSAs are also likely to consolidate, though perhaps to a lesser degree; we predict demand for beds in these areas will decline between 21% and 56%.”
About health devices
Medical Device Tracking—How It Is and How It Should Be: “To our knowledge, in the US, there is no national, publicly accessible registry for tracking postmarket experiences with medical devices. As a rigorous testing process before FDA approval or clearance is lacking for most devices, postmarket tracking is essential. Numerous private device registries use the UDI [unique device identifier] to monitor long-term outcomes for breast implants, cardiac pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, and other devices. However, participating physicians may not be able to view each other’s submissions, and nonparticipating physicians cannot view submissions. The data are proprietary and not publicly available. Congress should authorize the infrastructure to create a national and publicly accessible registry that uses the UDI for tracking postmarket medical outcomes and safety.”