Luc Montagnier, Nobel-winning virologist who co-discovered HIV, dies at 89: “The lab of Dr. Montagnier… discovered HIV, the drug-resistant virus that was later found to cause AIDS…Dr. Montagnier and his team fought for recognition from the scientific community, which ignored and sometimes scorned their early research.
Ultimately, the work done by Dr. Montagnier and his colleagues — including Françoise Barré-Sinoussi who detected telltale viral activity in the original sample — paved the way for an HIV blood test, spurred the development of AIDS drugs and therapies, and earned the two Pasteur scientists a share of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2008.”
About Covid-19
COVID cases surpass 400 million as Omicron grips world: “It took over a month for COVID cases to reach 400 million from 300 million, compared to five months for the cases to reach 300 million from 200 million, according to a Reuters tally. The pandemic has killed over 6 million people worldwide.”
Covid-19 hospitalizations drop below 100,000 in the US, but heavy burden persists : “For the first time in more than a month, there are fewer than 100,000 hospital beds in use for patients with Covid-19 nationwide, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services.
That's a 38% drop from a few weeks ago, when Covid-19 hospitalizations reached a peak of more than 160,000 beds in use at one time.”
U.S. appeals court will not block order barring Biden federal staff vaccine mandate: “A U.S. appeals court panel on Wednesday declined to block a lower court ruling that President Joe Biden could not require federal employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
By a 2-1 vote, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stay the lower-court injunction. Judge Stephen A. Higginson dissented noting a dozen district courts rejected requests to block the vaccine rule while a single district judge issued an injunction.”
HHS awards another $66.5M for community-based vaccination programs: “The Department of Health and Human Services has released another $66.5 million toward community-based vaccination outreach programs across 38 states and the District of Columbia...
These awards are the fourth wave of American Rescue Plan funding and is intended to develop and support a community-based workforce able to reach those living in vulnerable and medically underserved communities.
Although initially announced as a $250 million investment, the latest round of awards bring the administration’s total to nearly $390 million.”
Researchers confirm newly developed inhaled vaccine delivers broad protection against SARS-CoV-2, variants of concern: “Scientists at McMaster University who have developed an inhaled form of COVID vaccine have confirmed it can provide broad, long-lasting protection against the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern…
Because inhaled vaccines target the lungs and upper airways where respiratory viruses first enter the body, they are far more effective at inducing a protective immune response, the researchers report.
The reported preclinical study, which was conducted on animal models, has provided the critical proof of concept to enable a Phase 1 clinical trial that is currently under way to evaluate inhaled aerosol vaccines in healthy adults who had already received two doses of a COVID mRNA vaccine.”
Hospital-acquired COVID-19 infections were rare through fall 2021: “Hospital-developed COVID-19 cases represent about 1.8% of COVID-19 hospitalizations and were potentially on the decline by the tail end of the pandemic’s delta wave, according to a patient data analysis conducted by electronic health record vendor Epic…
These hospital-developed COVID-19 infections—defined as hospitalized patients who tested negative on the day of or day after admission but then tested positive six or more days later—reached its peak on the week of Dec. 6, 2020, with 172 such cases.”
Oklahoma won't discipline physicians prescribing unproven COVID-19 treatments: “Physicians in Oklahoma are not prohibited from prescribing unapproved treatments such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine for the off-label purpose of treating COVID-19 patients, the state attorney general's office said Feb. 8.
The office of Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor said it ‘finds no legal basis for a state medical licensure board to discipline a licensed physician’ for using their judgment and prescribing FDA-approved drugs for the off-label — when a drug approved for a specific disease or condition is prescribed for something else — purpose of treating COVID-19.”
Conflicting reports raise questions about whether any monoclonals work against Omicron’s sister variant: “A pair of conflicting reports released this week raised questions about whether the Covid-19 monoclonal antibody sotrovimab — the one such treatment that has continued to work against the Omicron variant — maintains its power against a sister form of the virus, BA.2.”
Read the article for more details.
About health insurance
Provider groups push court to press pause on controversial surprise billing rule: “The American Medical Association, American Hospital Association and several other provider groups wrote in a legal filing Tuesday that a federal judge needs to quickly issue a stay of the final rule that governs the arbitration process for handling out-of-network charges. The groups pushed back over the arguments that the administration delivered last month.”
Former NFL Player Sentenced to Prison for Nationwide Health Care Fraud Scheme: “According to court documents, Robert McCune, 42, of Riverdale, Georgia, defrauded the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Health Reimbursement Account Plan (the Plan). The Plan was established pursuant to the NFL’s 2006 collective bargaining agreement. It provided former players, their spouses and their dependents, up to a maximum of $350,000 per player tax-free reimbursement of out-of-pocket medical care expenses that were not covered by insurance.
Court documents show that McCune submitted false and fraudulent claims to the Plan on his own behalf and on behalf of dozens of other former NFL players. Between June 5, 2017, and April 12, 2018, he submitted 68 claims for 51 other players. The claims typically sought reimbursement of $40,000 or more for expensive medical equipment such as hyperbaric oxygen chambers, ultrasound machines and electromagnetic therapy devices. None of the medical equipment described in the claims was ever purchased or received. In total, McCune and his co-conspirators submitted approximately $2.9 million in fraudulent claims to the Plan.”
'Big 6' payers ranked by 2021 revenue: “Here are the top 6 payers based on year-end revenue:
1. UnitedHealthcare: $223 billion
2. Cigna: $174.1 billion
3. Anthem: $137 billion*
4. Centene: $126 billion
5. Humana: $83.1 billion
6. Aetna: $82.2 billion”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Semi-Annual Hospital Price Transparency Compliance Report: “Of the 1,000 total hospitals reviewed, we found:
—Only 14.3% were complying with the transparency rule.
—Only 37.9% of the hospitals posted a sufficient amount of negotiated rates, but over half werenot compliant in other criteria of the rule, such as rates by each insurer and named plan.
—Only 0.5% of hospitals owned by the three largest hospital systems in the country – HCAHealthcare, CommonSpirit Health, and Ascension – were in compliance.”
Three New Best Practices in the 2022-2023 Targeted Medication Safety Best Practices for Hospitals:
“New Best Practice 17: Safeguard against errors with oxytocin use…
New Best Practice 18: Maximize the use of barcode verification prior to medication and vaccine administration by expanding use beyond inpatient care areas…
New Best Practice 19: Layer numerous strategies throughout the medication-use process to improve safety with high-alert medications.”
Read the website for more details about these three new items.
Yale New Haven Health to acquire 2 Connecticut health systems: “Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health System agreed Feb. 10 to acquire two Connecticut health systems from Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings.
The deal includes the Connecticut systems' related businesses, real estate assets, physician clinic operations and outpatient services, according to a news release from Yale New Haven Health.”
Ascension, Labcorp partnership brings expanded testing to hospital labs: “According to a Feb. 9 news release shared with Becker's, Labcorp will manage Ascension's hospital-based labs in 10 states: Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin…
Labcorp and Ascension anticipate the transactions will close in the first half of 2022.”
About pharma
Biotechs face cash crunch after stock market ‘bloodbath’ : “Biotech groups, most of them lossmaking, raised a record $32.7bn in initial public offerings over the past two years, according to data from Refinitiv. But 83 per cent of recently listed US biotech and pharma stocks are now trading below their IPO price. Biotech groups that listed in 2021 are trading on average 37 per cent below their IPO price, compared with a 22 per cent fall for all newly US-listed companies. Many such companies raised money through IPOs with the expectation that they would be able to tap investors for fresh funds in subsequent share sales as their drugs progressed through the research and development cycle.”
EMA launches new centre to gather real-world health data for drug regulation: “The European Medicines Agency on Wednesday announced the set-up of a coordination centre that will be key to its efforts to incorporate real-world evidence (RWE) into the regulation of medicines in Europe. It is working with Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam to establish the centre, which will form part of the broader Data Analysis and Real World Interrogation Network (DARWIN EU) project, to supply RWE requested by the EMA itself and EU member states' regulators.
DARWIN EU will connect Europe's drug regulatory network to the so-called European Health Data Space (EHDS), an initiative intended to improve the exchange and access to different types of health data. The objective is to assemble a network of real-world health data sources that will provide ‘valid and trustworthy’ RWE from across Europe on things like diseases, patient populations, and the uses and performance of medicines.”
Were Prescription Drug Prices the Fastest-Growing Commodity or Service in 2021?: “Key takeaways: —Prescription medication prices are no longer the fastest-growing commodity or service. In 2021, the cost of car rentals, tobacco, beef, and moving expenses all outpaced the cost of prescription drugs.
—However, prescription drug costs have still increased 2.5% since the start of the pandemic.
—Prescription drug prices have also historically grown faster than the rate of inflation. Since 2014, drug prices have increased 35%, while the cost of all items and services has increased 19%.”
About the public’s health
Single accountable figure to lead new health and care ‘place boards’ : As our country looks for better organizational models to deliver healthcare, this British proposal calls for a single local head to coordinate both health and social welfare services.
”A white paper, published this afternoon, endorses a model featuring an integrated health and social care board at a 'place' level - more localised than integrated care systems (ICSs). It is at this place board level that budgets would be pooled or aligned, and the single accountable leader would operate.
The white paper, Health and Social Care Integration: joining up care for people, places and populations, says all places with an ICS will be expected to adopt the government’s ‘place-board’ governance model or an equivalent which achieves the same aims, by spring 2023.”
About healthcare IT
CY2022 Telehealth Update Medicare Physician Fee Schedule: From CMS, a short explanation of telehealth billing; it goes into effect April 1, 2022.
5 Healthcare Trends for 2022: Some highlights:
”72% of U.S. adults read online patient ratings and reviews when considering the decision of a healthcare facility or physician.
50% of U.S. adults read 10+ reviews, and 23% read 20 or more when selecting care.
55% of Millennials have selected one physician or location over another based on online reviews.
72% of healthcare consumers want the provider they choose to be rated 4 out of 5 stars or higher.
65% of respondents say it’s important for providers to respond to reviews.
Google is also the #1 review site used by healthcare consumers.
Brand loyalty is declining everywhere…Among Millennials, the largest population segment in the United States, only 19% say they would choose a physician based on their connection to a brand.”