About Covid-19
Nasal version of Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine fails in trial “A nasal version of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has failed in an early-stage trial, dealing a blow to hopes for a more effective way to prevent transmission of the virus. Oxford university said on Tuesday a nasal formulation of the vaccine elicited mucosal antibody responses in a ‘minority of participants’ and systemic immune responses were weaker compared with intramuscular vaccination.”
About health insurance/insurers
Centene barred from growing some Medicare Advantage plans “Centene will not be allowed to expand its Medicare Advantage footprint in certain geographies next year after its plans consistently received poor scores in the federal quality ratings program.
The insurer will be unable to expand nine of its 108 contracts in 2024, according to an analysis by HealthMine, a consultancy for health insurance companies. About 84,000, or 5%, of Centene’s 1.5 million Medicare Advantage members with Part D prescription drug coverage are enrolled in the nine plans, which cover counties in Ohio, North Carolina, Arizona, Connecticut and Nevada.”
Health plans say texting could help reach underserved patients. But a federal rule is getting in their way “Health plans trying to reach low-income and underserved customers say they’re being stymied by a decades-old federal rule limiting texting — and they’re framing it as a health equity issue in their bid to change it.
Low-income and underserved patients, they say, are more likely to see and respond to texts about their health than they are to answer calls from unknown numbers or to receive mailed notices, especially if they’re at work or move frequently. But a 1991 law designed to protect consumers from unwanted telemarketing blocks health plans contracting with Medicaid from texting patients without their prior consent, meaning that they can’t send reminders about services like mammograms or well-child visits unless they’ve reached the patient by phone or mail first.”
Healthcare billing fraud: 10 recent cases Nine of ten are explicitly Medicare and/or Medicaid.
About pharma
For $392M, Walgreens to fully acquire CareCentrix “About a month after acquiring a majority stake in CareCentrix, Walgreens Boots Alliance said Oct. 11 it plans to fully own the home healthcare company for $392 million.
Walgreens said the acquisition of CareCentrix, which reported sales of $1.5 billion in 2021, will be completed by March 2023.”
Rite Aid, Google Cloud partner to create the 'modern pharmacy' “Rite Aid will partner with Google Cloud to introduce Google's Anthos platform to its more than 2,350 pharmacies, the companies said Oct. 11.
The yearslong partnership is "defining the modern pharmacy," Carrie Tharp, vice president of retail and consumer solutions of Google Cloud, said in a statement.
With Google Cloud, the retail pharmacy plans to transition its "vaccine scheduling tool, customer messaging infrastructure and digital engagement platform" into an app.”
About the public’s health
Walmart's Healthcare Research Institute Launches With Mission To Improve Care for Underserved Communities Through Research “Today, Walmart is announcing the launch of the Walmart Healthcare Research Institute SM (WHRI) to increase community access to healthcare research that may help lead to safer, higher quality and more equitable healthcare.
WHRI will be focused on innovative interventions and medications that can make a difference in underrepresented communities including older adults, rural residents, women and minority populations. WHRI initially is focused on inclusion in studies on treatments for chronic conditions and innovative treatments that should include members from these communities.”
Screening for Depression and Suicide Risk in Children and Adolescents “The USPSTF concludes with moderate certainty that screening for MDD [major depressive disorders] in adolescents aged 12 to 18 years has a moderate net benefit. The USPSTF concludes that the evidence is insufficient on screening for MDD in children 11 years or younger. The USPSTF concludes that the evidence is insufficient on the benefit and harms of screening for suicide risk in children and adolescents owing to a lack of evidence.”
About healthcare IT
Risks are low for sharing patient data, study finds “Between September 2016 and September 2021, there were no instances of deidentified data being reidentified, according to the review of more than 10,000 U.S. media publications. During the same period, more than 100 million health records were stolen in data breaches from supposedly secure systems.”