About Covid-19
COVID-19 Nursing Home Data From CMS (individual facility compliance is searchable):
National Percent of Residents Up to Date with Vaccines per Facility- 46.7%
National Percent of Staff Up to Date with Vaccines per Facility- 22.2%
Epidemiology society urges reduced COVID-19 screening at hospitals “Healthcare facilities should no longer routinely screen symptom-free patients for COVID-19 upon admission or before procedures, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America said Dec. 21.
Research shows asymptomatic COVID-19 testing added 1.89 hours to patient stays and cost more than $12,500 to identify one asymptomatic COVID-19 patient…”
Drug price group slashes suggested price of Pfizer COVID treatment by 80% “The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) said on Tuesday that its new suggested U.S. price based on the benefits and value to patients was in the range of $563 to $906 per treatment course. That compares with its previous assessment of $3,600 to $5,800 per course.”
About health insurance/insurers
2023 forecast: Employers who self-insure face new responsibilities and opportunities “Self-insured employers will have to dig into the details of the health plans they offer their employees more so than they ever had to before thanks to provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) that will go into effect in 2023.
These employers will now need to be fiduciaries of the healthcare plans they offer. Of course, at least on paper, self-insured employers have been fiduciaries of their healthcare benefits since the passage of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act in 1974, but the CAA means that they’ll have more data to work with and therefore more responsibility that their workers get the best coverage for a reasonable price.”
Fitch: Payers should withstand rising inflation, interest rates “Fitch said in its Dec. 20 report that payers are ‘somewhat protected from rapidly increasing healthcare costs,’ thanks to the typical three-year duration of contracts with hospitals and providers. These contracts — which include negotiated payment rates — give insurers time to incorporate higher costs into premium rates…
Fitch said diversity of enrollment should benefit payers, as the expected decline in enrollment that is typically seen during recessions will likely be partially offset by increased Medicare and Medicaid enrollment.”
How health plans can use data to unlock better care The study asked: What do you consider the most important factors for having a positive experience in the healthcare system? “Top 5 responses
53% An insurance plan that fits my needs
48% Getting care from doctors with good bedside manner
38% Feeling better quickly
33% Securing an appointment quickly
31% Out-of-pocket cost”
Amazing that plan customization is first on the list.
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Biden administration to publish hospital ownership data for first time “The Biden administration… [announced] it will release ownership data for all 7,000 hospitals that participate in Medicare in an effort to boost transparency.
The move comes amid a rapid increase in private equity investments in hospitals, resulting in an increasingly concentrated market. Private equity firms owned about 4 percent of hospitals as of last year.”
2023 forecast: Providers embrace start of new requirements on health equity Next year will be the start of a new payment model that calls for not just the collection of health equity data to determine social risk factors, but also the implementation of solutions to address these problems. Providers that have been working on equity for years are lauding the decisions to move beyond planning and collecting data and into action.
The ACO REACH payment model contains the first of such requirements. The voluntary payment model offers fully or partially capitated payments to physicians for meeting spending and quality targets.
In early 2023, participants will also have to submit to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation an equity plan, which is a totally new requirement for value-based care participants. The plan includes not only a requirement to collect data on social determinants of health for its patient population but also the development of measures to target these factors.”
Many Hospitals Get Big Drug Discounts. That Doesn’t Mean Markdowns for Patients. An excellent piece of investigative journalism about the 340B program.
Joint Commission makes major revisions to quality, safety standards The Joint Commission is retiring 14% of its quality standards during the first round of a review process that seeks to refocus hospital safety and quality goals and decrease administrative burden…
The Joint Commission is doing away with a variety of standards, including those related to discarding unlabeled medicine, monitoring safe opioid prescribing, establishing procedures and quality control checks for simple diagnostic tests, and adhering to behavioral management policies. Notably, the accrediting body is scrapping a measure based on healthcare facility smoking bans, which the Joint Commission deemed outdated because of widespread hospital policies and local laws that achieve the same result.
Most of the standards—such as a requirement that health systems provide incidence data to key stakeholders, including licensed practitioners, nursing staff and other clinicians—are addressed in other aspects of the accrediting process, according to the Joint Commission.
About pharma
Drug Enforcement Administration Announces the Seizure of Over 379 million Deadly Doses of Fentanyl in 2022 “As 2022 comes to an end, the Drug Enforcement Administration is announcing the seizure of over 50.6 million fentanyl-laced, fake prescription pills and more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder this calendar year. The DEA Laboratory estimates that these seizures represent more than 379 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl.”
About the public’s health
WHO updates recommendations on HPV vaccination schedule “WHO now recommends
A one or two-dose schedule for girls aged 9-14 years
A one or two-dose schedule for girls and women aged 15-20 years
Two doses with a 6-month interval for women older than 21 years”
Trends and Disparities in Glycemic Control and Severe Hyperglycemia Among US Adults With Diabetes Using Insulin, 1988-2020 “From 1988-1994 to 2013-2020, there was no significant change in the percentage of adults using insulin or the prevalence of glycemic control and severe hyperglycemia among US adults with diabetes using insulin. Overall, less than 30% of patients with diabetes using insulin had an HbA1c level less than 7%, while approximately 15% had an HbA1c level greater than 10%.
Several factors may have contributed to the lack of improvement in glycemic control. First, the rising cost of insulin is likely leading to medication nonadherence. Approximately one-third of US adults using insulin report either rationing, dose skipping, or delaying prescription refills to save money. Second, only a small proportion of practitioners may be starting or intensifying insulin therapy in a timely manner. Third, acceptability of insulin remains low among patients, leading to reluctance to begin or continue using insulin therapy as recommended.
Trends in glycemic control varied considerably across race and ethnicity. While glycemic control was stable for non-Hispanic White adults using insulin, we found that control declined significantly among Mexican American adults.”
About healthcare personnel
Federal Employee Insurance Program to Reimburse Pharmacists as Providers for Patient Assessment and Prescribing of COVID-19 Therapy “The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the federal agency that administers employer-sponsored health insurance for all civilian federal employees, announced that insurance carriers that provide coverage to federal employees through the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program must reimburse pharmacists for patient assessment and prescribing of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir.”