About Covid-19
Myocarditis and Pericarditis After Vaccination for COVID-19: “Two distinct self-limited syndromes, myocarditis and pericarditis, were observed after COVID-19 vaccination. Myocarditis developed rapidly in younger patients, mostly after the second vaccination. Pericarditis affected older patients later, after either the first or second dose.”
The purpose of the article is to define two groups for these rare complications.
CDC: Reinfection more likely for unvaccinated who had COVID-19 than for vaccinated: “People who were infected with COVID-19 earlier in the pandemic, but who opt to not get vaccinated against the virus, are more than twice as likely to get sickened again compared with those who receive the shot, according to data released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
Coronavirus booster shots for the immunocompromised expected to be authorized soon: “The extra shots are expected to be authorized within days or weeks, according to federal officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plan has not been announced.”
U.S. Military Will Mandate Vaccine for Troops: “The Pentagon will seek to make coronavirus vaccinations mandatory for the country’s 1.3 million active-duty troops “no later” than next month, the Biden administration announced Monday.”
The social network for doctors is full of vaccine disinformation: “Doctors on the industry networking site Doximity are finding their news feed inundated with anti-vaccine comments from fellow physicians.”
About the public’s health
Bronchitis the Leader at Putting Children in the Hospital: ”More children admitted to hospitals in 2018 had acute bronchitis than any other diagnosis, according to a recent report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.” It was the #1 diagnosis for males and #2 for females (after depression).
Prevalence of bacterial contamination of touchscreens and posterior surfaces of smartphones owned by healthcare workers [HCWs]: a cross-sectional study: “Eighty-four HCWs participated in this study. The touchscreen and posterior surface were contaminated in 27 (32.1%) and 39 (46.4%) smartphones, respectively, indicating that the posterior surface was more frequently contaminated (p = 0.041). Bacillus species and coagulase-negative staphylococci were isolated from each surface of the smartphones.”
Humans have pushed the climate into ‘unprecedented’ territory, landmark U.N. report finds: Today, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change “issued its latest and most dire assessment about the state of the planet, detailing how humans have altered the environment at an ‘unprecedented’ pace and cautioning that the world risks increasingly catastrophic impacts in the absence of rapid greenhouse gas reductions.
The landmark report, compiled by 234 authors relying on more than 14,000 studies from around the globe, bluntly lays out for policymakers and the public the most up-to-date understanding of the physical science on climate change. Released amid a summer of deadly fires, floods and heat waves, it arrives less than three months before a critical summit this November in Scotland, where world leaders face mounting pressure to move more urgently to slow the Earth’s warming.”
About health insurance
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Recent Federal Policies on Small Business Health Insurance:
“Small businesses’ health coverage offerings remained relatively stable amid the COVID-19 pandemic, contrary to some early predictions.
The share of small employers offering comprehensive health benefits has steadily declined over the last two decades, but employers that continue to offer benefits recognize its importance in attracting and retaining skilled employees.
Many small employers are shifting to coverage exempt from Affordable Care Act rules in response to rising costs, resulting in an unsettled market.”
Democrats reintroduce legislation to create Medicaid-based public option: “Nearly 20 Senate Democrats reintroduced legislation Friday to create a new Medicaid-based public option, reinforcing their commitment to a key priority.
But the legislation isn't certain to become law, as it has not been added to a $3.5 trillion infrastructure package that includes other reforms on drug pricing and expanding Medicare benefits.”
About healthcare IT
Digital Health Trends 2021: From Iqvia, this report is well-worth reading, especially if you are involved or interested in this sector.
Here are some overall highlights:
”Health-related mobile applications available to consumers on top app stores worldwide now surpass 350,000, with more than 90,000 digital health apps added in 2020 — an average of more than 250 apps per day.... Mental health, diabetes and cardiovascular disease-related apps now account for almost half of disease-specific apps.
Digital therapeutics (DTx) and digital care (DC) products and tools — which incorporate software as a means to treat, prevent or manage specific diseases or conditions — have been proliferating, and more than 250 such products are now identified, including about 150 products that are commercially available…
At least 25 DTx products have been granted market authorization through regulatory processes and another 23 are commercially available, with indications predominantly in the mental health and behavior modification areas, and an additional 89 are in earlier stages of development and evidence generation.”
GE Healthcare moves imaging, clinical analytics platforms to Amazon Web Services cloud: “GE Healthcare will begin moving several of its software platforms to the AWS cloud, making it easier for healthcare providers and artificial intelligence developers alike to access clinical data to improve patient care.
First to make the jump to the cloud are GE’s Edison Health Services platform and its newest AI-powered imaging tool, the Edison True PACS picture archive and communication system, which was specifically designed to be hosted on the cloud in order to reduce data storage costs and speed up the process of integrating AI into under-resourced clinics.”
App-Based Feedback for Rehabilitation Exercise Correction in Patients With Knee or Hip Osteoarthritis: Prospective Cohort Study: “Motion Coach (Kaia Health GmbH) provides audiovisual feedback on exercise execution in real time on conventional smartphones…
There was no detectable difference in levels of interrater agreement between Motion Coach vs physiotherapists and between physiotherapists in any of the 6 exercises…
The results demonstrated that Motion Coach is noninferior to physiotherapist evaluations…These results confirm the ability of Motion Coach to detect user form during exercise and provide valid feedback to users with musculoskeletal disorders.”
Altoida's Alzheimer's-predicting smartphone app snags FDA breakthrough status: “Altoida’s technology uses artificial intelligence to analyze cognitive test results to determine whether a case of mild cognitive impairment will escalate into Alzheimer’s within a year…
The system is the product of more than 20 years of cognitive research, Tarnanas said. It comprises a slate of neurological tests for users aged 55 and up and AI software to analyze the results of those tests.
The assessment portion of the system takes 10 minutes to complete and can be accessed on a user’s own smartphone or tablet. It focuses on measuring 11 specific areas of the brain research has suggested are linked to the onset of Alzheimer’s.”
These Algorithms Look at X-Rays—and Somehow Detect Your Race: “The study authors and other medical AI experts say the results make it more crucial than ever to check that health algorithms perform fairly on people with different racial identities. Complicating that task: The authors themselves aren’t sure what cues the algorithms they created use to predict a person’s race.”
Allscripts reports double-digit growth in its Veradigm analytics business as it eyes potential M&A: “Allscripts reported a particularly strong quarter in its life sciences data business within the Veradigm segment, both for in-quarter revenue as well as new partnership development, Poulton said.
The company's Veradigm business has the largest linked electronic health records claims patient database available for research, sourced from and directly connected to clinical platforms.
Allscripts expects those double-digit gains to continue for the rest of 2021.”
About pharma
CMS proposes pulling model that ties Part B drug prices to those paid overseas: “The Biden administration has pulled a Trump-era regulation that ties Medicare Part B prices for certain products to prices paid overseas.
The proposed rule, released Friday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, comes in response to a series of legal defeats that the Biden administration faced over the controversial model.
The model would tie the prices for certain Part B single-source drugs and biologics to the average price paid by several overseas countries.”
GoodRx inks deal with Surescripts to provide information on cash prices for drugs: “The partnership with GoodRx will enable Surescripts to deliver drug discount price information to prescribers when they are prescribing medications for uninsured patients and patients whose price information isn’t already available from their pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) or health plan, according to the companies.
Surescripts' real-time prescription benefit technology delivers cost information in the electronic workflow so prescribers can make more informed decisions and address patient prescription cost concerns at the point of care.”
About healthcare quality
CMS maintains patient safety measure after pushback from Leapfrog: “The ‘Death Among Surgical Inpatients with Serious Treatable Complications’ safety measure, also known as Patient Safety Indicator 4, or PSI-4, will remain in place for now, per CMS Inpatient Prospective Payment System final rule for 2022.”
About healthcare professionals
2021 REVIEW OF PHYSICIAN AND ADVANCED PRACTITIONER RECRUITING INCENTIVES: From Merritt Hawkins, their 28th annual report. Note it also includes PAs and NPs.