About the public’s health
Humana to offer home COVID-19 testing, drive-thru testing at Walmart: “Humana will now offer LabCorp’s home COVID-19 tests to its members and is teaming up with Walmart and Quest Diagnostics to provide access to drive-thru tests.
Members enrolled in the insurer’s Medicare Advantage, Medicare supplement, Medicaid and employer group plans are eligible for either type of test, and out-of-pocket costs will continue to be waived.”
Labs warn of test result delays amid coronavirus surges:”Commercial and clinical labs are warning that there may be extended turnaround times for COVID-19 test results amid an uptick in demand for testing as cases rise across the U.S.
Quest Diagnostics said June 29 that the average turnaround time for nonpriority patients' test results will be three to five days due to the increase in demand. It used to be a one-day turnaround.
The commercial lab said it will still be a one-day turnaround for priority patients.”
Just 50% of Americans plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s how to win over the rest: A must-read article that has an update of different market segments’ opinions on their likelihood of getting a COVID-19 vaccine. It also analyzes the objections. The main obstacle is concern over safety. In this case the fear of loss (or harm) is more powerful than the allure of upside gain (in this case prevention of serious illness). So the campaign for vaccination needs to address that main concern. For example, expert opinion may not be as persuasive as celebrity endorsements.
A Dire Warning From COVID-19 Test Providers:”The American testing supply chain is stretched to the limit, and the ongoing outbreak in the South and West could overwhelm it, according to epidemiologists and testing-company executives. While the country’s laboratories have added tremendous capacity in the past few months—the U.S. now tests about 550,000 people each day, a fivefold increase from early April—demand for viral tests is again outpacing supply.”
Suppression of a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in the Italian municipality of Vo’: The important take-away: “Notably, 42.5% (95% CI 31.5-54.6%) of the confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections detected across the two surveys were asymptomatic (i.e. did not have symptoms at the time of swab testing and did not develop symptoms afterwards).”
Hollowed-Out Public Health System Faces More Cuts Amid Virus: At a time when public health is crucial, we face a neglected and shrinking resource. “Since 2010, spending for state public health departments has dropped by 16% per capita and spending for local health departments has fallen by 18%, according to a KHN and Associated Press analysis of government spending on public health. At least 38,000 state and local public health jobs have disappeared since the 2008 recession, leaving a skeletal workforce for what was once viewed as one of the world’s top public health systems.”
HHS extends partnership with retailers to boost COVID-19 testing:”The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Tuesday it would extend its partnership with private pharmacies and grocery chains to provide better access to COVID-19 testing.
The partnership with CVS Health Corp, Rite Aid Corp, Walgreens boots Alliance Inc, Kroger and Walmart Inc has been scaled up to more than 600 COVID-19 testing sites across the country.
About 70% of the testing sites under the program are located in areas that have moderate-to-high vulnerability to the virus.”
As Coronavirus Surges, How Much Testing Does Your State Need To Subdue The Virus?: While the testing volume is very different across the country, we need to be doing 4.3 million tests per day for COVID-19 suppression and 1.2 million tests per day for “mitigation.” We are only doing close to 600,000 per day.
The radical technologies to keep offices clear of coronavirus: Interesting technology explanations ranging from self-cleaning surfaces to ventilation changes.
About health insurance
Oklahoma voters approve Medicaid expansion as coronavirus cases climb: The significance of the story is this Red State’s decision at the same time the Republicans are pushing for the ACA’s repeal and the prospect that Oklahoma was to be the first state to try a block grant system for Medicaid.
10 indicted in $1.4B rural hospital fraudulent billing scheme: DOJ: “The Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted 10 people, including a Miami-based hospital executive, in connection with a pass-through billing scheme that used rural hospitals as shells to submit fraudulent bills for lab tests.
Between November 2015 and February 2018, private plans were billed for $1.4 billion in tests and paid out $400 million, according to the DOJ. The indictment was unsealed Monday.”
Society of Actuaries tool allows payers to model COVID costs: “For example, researchers at SOA estimate that for each month that there is a high level of social distancing, annual insured healthcare costs decrease by 4%.”
About emerging science
Malaria's secret to surviving in the blood uncovered: This discovery provides a new method to attack malaria.
“When the malaria parasite enters a red blood cell it digests haemoglobin, leading to the release of a compound called haem, which is toxic to the parasite if it is left loose inside the cell.
The researchers found that to overcome this, the parasite uses a protein, called PV5, to control a process where free haem molecules are joined together into insoluble crystals which are not harmful. This is vital to the survival of the malaria parasite.
When the researchers blocked this protein in the lab, they found that the human-infecting malaria parasite made fewer and highly misshapen crystals. When the protein was blocked in mice that had been infected with a rodent strain of malaria, the parasite became more sensitive to several antimalarial drugs.”
Researchers have found a promising therapy for cardiac regeneration:”The tissue-engineered approach relies on a local transplantation of minute pieces of autologous atrial appendage tissue, termed atrial appendage micrografts (AAMs), to the surface of the ischaemically stressed myocardium…
’We demonstrated not only preservation of heart's pumping function following critical ischemic insult but also improved functional recovery following AAMs transplantation during follow-up,’ says Docent Maciej Lalowski from University of Helsinki.”
About hospitals and health systems
Hospitals and Health Systems Continue to Face Unprecedented Financial Challenges due to COVID-19: The AHA updates projected losses from COVID-19 (emphases in the original):
“Hospitals and health systems currently report average declines of 19.5% in inpatient volume and 34.5% in outpatient volume relative to baseline levels.
The AHA estimates an additional $120.5 billion in total financial losses from July 2020 through December 2020 should hospitals and health systems reach baseline patient volumes by July 2021, or an average of $20.1 billion per month. These estimates are in addition to the $202.6 billion in losses the AHA estimated between March 2020 and June 2020 bringing the total projected losses to hospitals and health systems in 2020 to at least $323.1 billion.”
Mayo Clinic And Tech Firm Launch ‘Hospital Care At Home’ Venture: This article is in this section because of the substitution of inpatient services at home. “The Mayo Clinic and the technology company Medically Home are partnering to launch a new healthcare delivery model that will deliver ‘advanced care’ typically available inside a hospital into patient homes.”
About healthcare IT
UCSF pays hackers $1.1M to regain access to medical school servers: These problem are still very much with us.
Where Telemedicine Falls Short: An HBR article by Dr. David Blumenthal, president of the Commonwealth Fund and former National Coordinator for Health IT. The essence of his message: “I also know that well-trained clinicians use all their senses — not just hearing and vision. They appraise the whole patient: Is there a new limp, a shift in posture, a new pallor? Often, it’s what patients don’t notice or complain about that is essential. And there is no diagnostic test more cost-effective than the laying on of hands. I have found treatable cancers multiple times in routine exams that would be impossible to replicate in the virtual world. Could a Zoom visit detect a lymph node too firm, a spleen or liver too large, or an unexpected prostate nodule (with a normal PSA)?”
About pharma
US buys up world stock of key Covid-19 drug remdesivir: This article is the “other side” of the previous report on our federal government buying up the remdesivir supply for the next few months.
”The US has bought up virtually all the stocks for the next three months of one of the two drugs proven to work against Covid-19, leaving none for the UK, Europe or most of the rest of the world.
Experts and campaigners are alarmed both by the US unilateral action on remdesivir and the wider implications, for instance in the event of a vaccine becoming available. The Trump administration has already shown that it is prepared to outbid and outmanoeuvre all other countries to secure the medical supplies it needs for the US.”
Walgreens testing smaller store format: 8 things to know:The headline is the story. For example: “In the small stores, there are fewer items for sale in the front of the store and fewer over-the-counter medications. They are about a quarter of the size of a typical Walgreens store, which sits at 13,500 square feet.”