About COVID-19
Single dose of Pfizer vaccine shows signs of success in UK: “Public Health England found that a single dose reduced symptomatic infection by 65 per cent in younger adults and 64 per cent in the over-80s, while two jabs conferred 79 and 84 per cent protection respectively.”
WHO recommends use of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for all adults: “The WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (Sage) said the vaccine could be used by all people over the age of 18 in all countries, including places such as South Africa where the circulation of new variants had raised some concerns over its efficacy.”
Infographic: COVID-19 patients with high-risk conditions 3x more likely to need the ICU: This Blue Cross Blue Shield Association analysis of 90,900 COVID-19 cases across 4.5 million Americans found the average cost per admission for high-risk COVID-19 patients (26%) was 30 percent higher than for patients without underlying chronic conditions (74%). Of the 95% of the total who did not require hospitalization, the average cost of treatment was between $500 and $1,000. But for the 5% who were hospitalized treatment costs were 45 times higher than in an outpatient setting.
Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Currently Authorized in the United States: This updated CDC guidance includes the following change:
”…vaccinated persons with an exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not required to quarantine if they meet all of the following criteria:
Are fully vaccinated (i.e., ≥2 weeks following receipt of the second dose in a 2-dose series, or ≥2 weeks following receipt of one dose of a single-dose vaccine)
Are within 3 months following receipt of the last dose in the series
Have remained asymptomatic since the current COVID-19 exposure
Persons who do not meet all 3 of the above criteria should continue to follow current quarantine guidance after exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.”
Biden to announce his administration has secured 200 million additional vaccine doses promised last month: “President Biden is expected to announce Thursday afternoon that his administration has secured deals for another 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccine as promised last month, according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss it.” 100M each from Pfizer and Moderna.
FDA Says COVID-19 Treatment Remdesivir Shouldn’t Be Compounded: “Gilead Sciences’ FDA-approved antiviral treatment for COVID-19, Veklury (remdesivir), should not be compounded, the FDA has warned.
The agency said it has recently learned that ‘various entities’ are offering to sell the active pharmaceutical ingredient in remdesivir to compounders and that the products could be ‘substandard or counterfeit.’”
Can’t Find an N95 Mask? This Company Has 30 Million That It Can’t Sell.: “A year into the pandemic, the disposable, virus-filtering N95 mask remains a coveted piece of protective gear. Continuing shortages have forced doctors and nurses to reuse their N95s, and ordinary Americans have scoured the internet — mostly in vain — to get them.
But Luis Arguello Jr. has plenty of N95s for sale — 30 million of them, in fact, which his family-run business, DemeTech, manufactured in its factories in Miami. He simply can’t find buyers…
In one of the more confounding disconnects between the laws of supply and demand, many of the nearly two dozen small American companies that recently jumped into the business of making N95s are facing the abyss — unable to crack the market, despite vows from both former President Donald Trump and President Biden to ‘Buy American’ and buoy domestic production of essential medical gear.”
About healthcare IT
Cerner's net earnings up $250M in 2020: 4 things to know: “Cerner reported $780.1 million in net earnings in 2020, a 47 percent increase from $529.5 million in 2019…
For the full year, Cerner posted $5.5 billion in revenue, down 3 percent from $5.6 billion in 2019.”
20 medical apps most downloaded by iPhone users: FYI
14 health systems team up on 'ethical innovation' with launch of provider-led data platform:
“Fourteen health systems, including Trinity Health, Northwell Health and Tenet Health, are partnering to create a comprehensive, de-identified data platform that will glean more robust insights on medical conditions such as rare diseases and COVID-19.
The new platform, dubbed Truveta, will serve as a universal database of patient population information pooled from the participating health systems, according to a Feb. 11 announcement.
The de-identified clinical data will span across all diagnoses, geographies and demographics to provide physicians and researchers with stronger analyses of medical conditions, treatment therapies and prognoses.”
About pharma
AstraZeneca drops breast, prostate cancer programs in Q4 pipeline cull: “AstraZeneca has dropped two oncology programs from its clinical-phase pipeline. The Big Pharma has stopped work on AZD9496 in breast cancer and imaradenant in prostate cancer on safety or efficacy grounds.”
About health insurance
Humana Begins Coverage of Hospice Services as Part of Medicare Demonstration: “As part of a four-year demonstration created by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Humana’s program is intended to help the company and CMS learn whether hospice services provided within the Part A benefits package of Medicare results in additional innovation, enables a more seamless care continuum and improves quality and timely access to palliative and hospice care. Humana started offering the new benefit on select plans on January 1, 2021, in order to ease care transitions and ensure hospice-eligible patients who need it can receive the full benefits of hospice care.”
Hospice has been a stand-alone program, so this initiative’s innovation is integrating hospice into Medicare A and Medicare Advantage plans.
Medicare FFS Utilization Decreased During the COVID-19 Pandemic: “Avalere found healthcare utilization decreased in the first 3 months of the pandemic (March, April, and May of 2020) compared to these same months in 2019. This decrease was largest in April when there was a 51% reduction in outpatient claims and a 42% reduction in professional claims in 2020 compared to 2019. valere also examined healthcare utilization changes between the first half of 2019 and 2020 by race and found that utilization among the White Medicare population decreased more than among the Black or Hispanic populations. However, the largest utilization decreases were observed among the Asian beneficiaries, who account for 2% of the overall Medicare FFS population (White Medicare beneficiaries constitute 81%; Black Medicare beneficiaries, 9%; and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries, 2%…).”
About hospitals and health systems
Crises Collide:The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Stability of the Rural Health Safety Net: The Chartis Center for Rural Health found that: “Today the stability of the rural health safety net is even more tenuous. Rural hospital closures now stand at 135,1 and our research indicates that another 453 are vulnerable…
For the average rural hospital, 77 percent of total revenue is associated with outpatient services. As the pandemic has progressed, many rural providers have suspended or limited outpatient procedures, further compounding financial instability. In addition, our analysis has shown that the average rural hospital has 33 days cash on hand.to closure.”