About the public’s health
Pennsylvania suspends requirements for childhood immunizations, and that has pediatricians worried: The Pennsylvania Department of Health quietly announced late last month that it was temporarily suspending requirements for children’s immunizations, a move that could send mixed signals to parents about the importance of preventing disease, and could mark a return for vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, doctors fear.
The coronavirus pandemic has made it difficult for families to make scheduled checkups. In Philadelphia, routine immunizations have fallen substantially since March. As a result, many children in Pennsylvania may not have the required immunizations to enter and attend school this fall.”
Health illiteracy is nothing new in America. But the pandemic magnifies how troubling it is.:This article explains how health illiteracy is causing confusion among vulnerable populations. “Health literacy is not about reading skills or having a college degree. It means you know how to ask a doctor the right questions, read a food label, understand what you’re signing on a consent form, and have the numeric ability to analyze relative risks when making treatment decisions.”
Fauci explains the 'insidious increase' that has officials worried about new COVID surges: “Top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, M.D., warned the signs indicate more states could experience serious jumps in COVID-19 cases in the next month, following in the footsteps of a handful of southern states that have been hit with surges of the virus in recent weeks.”
The FDA's list of dangerous hand sanitizers has now grown to more than 100: The headline speaks for itself. The list is here.
3C-like protease inhibitors block coronavirus replication in vitro and improve survival in MERS-CoV-infected mice: “We describe herein the structure-guided optimization of a series of inhibitors of the coronavirus 3C-like protease (3CLpro), an enzyme essential for viral replication…These results suggest that this series of compounds has the potential to be developed further as antiviral drugs against human coronaviruses.”
The six strains of SARS-CoV-2 :”SARS-CoV-2 mutation rate remains low. Across Europe and Italy, the most widespread is strain G, while the L strain from Wuhan is gradually disappearing. These mutations, however, do not impinge on the process of developing effective vaccines.
The virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, presents at least six strains. Despite its mutations, the virus shows little variability, and this is good news for the researchers working on a viable vaccine.”
About health insurance
Proposed Policy, Payment, and Quality Provisions Changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for Calendar Year 2021: “With the budget neutrality adjustment to account for changes in RVUs, as required by law, the proposed CY 2021 PFS [physician fee schedule] conversion factor is $32.26, a decrease of $3.83 from the CY 2020 PFS conversion factor of $36.09.” Recall that the professional feee is the service RVU (determined by the CPT code) x Conversion Factor. Other changes include expansions in telehealth; refinements in coding for extended visits; supervision of diagnostic tests by certain Non-physician Practitioners (NPPs); clarification that physicians and NPPs, including therapists, can review and verify documentation entered into the medical record by members of the medical team for their own services that are paid under the PFS; allowing teaching physicians to use audio/video real time communications technology to interact with the resident through virtual means; and more.
About pharma
Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline under investigation for possible carcinogen in Zantac: The U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation into whether Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline failed to report information about a potential carcinogen to the federal government…”
About healthcare IT
Trump signs order to expand access to telehealth services in rural areas:”U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order expanding access to telehealth services for 57 million Americans in under-served rural areas and elsewhere, after virtual visits soared during the coronavirus pandemic.”