About Covid-19
At least 216.8 million people have been fully vaccinated in the U.S. “This includes more than 96.2 million people who have received a booster shot…
About two-thirds of the country is fully vaccinated in over a year of distributing shots. More than a million doses per day were administered nationwide November through January, but rates have since declined, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including first doses, second doses and boosters.”
The article, published today, has data by state, race and age groups.
A covid surge in Western Europe has U.S. bracing for another wave: “In all, about a dozen nations are seeing spikes in coronavirus infections caused by BA.2, a cousin of the BA.1 form of the virus that tore through the United States over the past three months…
Kristen Nordlund, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an email Tuesday that ‘although the BA.2 variant has increased in the United States over the past several weeks, it is not the dominant variant, and we are not seeing an increase in the severity of disease.’”
FDA Expediting Pfizer’s/BioNTech’s EUA Request for a Second COVID-19 Booster: “The FDA is asking its vaccines advisory committee to meet next month to make a recommendation on Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s March 15 request to amend its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for approval of a fourth shot/second booster of its COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty for people age 65 and older.”
Four WTO Members Agree to Waive COVID-19 Vaccine Patents: “Four World Trade Organization (WTO) members — the European Union, South Africa, India and the U.S. — agreed this week to waive intellectual property rights for the production of COVID-19 vaccines.
The document outlining their compromise, a year-and-a-half in the making, indicates that the agreement only covers vaccines for now, but could later be extended to therapies and diagnostics for COVID-19.
The four WTO members said they intend to implement the agreement no later than September 2022.”
Alnylam files patent infringement lawsuits against Pfizer, Moderna: “Alnylam said it was seeking damages over the use of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology used in the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines to carry and deliver genetic material into the body…
Alnylam's lawsuit against Moderna says it discussed licensing its technology to the company in late 2013 or 2014, and shared confidential information about it with Moderna at the time.
The lawsuit against Pfizer said Alnylam's LNP technology is also ‘essential’ to the effectiveness and safety of Pfizer's vaccine.
Arbutus Biopharma Corp separately sued Moderna in Delaware federal court last month, claiming Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine infringes its patents, which also relate to RNA-delivery technology.”
CDC confirms uptick in Covid virus found in wastewater: “‘It’s too early to know if this current trend will continue,’ according to the head of the agency's wastewater monitoring program.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged the increase after Bloomberg reported that a third of the agency’s wastewater sample sites showed a rise in Covid cases from March 1 to March 10.
That was double what it was from Feb. 1 to Feb. 10, when the highly infectious omicron variant that had roared across the country during the holiday season was starting to wane, the Bloomberg analysis of CDC data found.”
Japan to buy 145 mln Pfizer, Moderna COVID vaccines for 4th shots: Another country is moving ahead with a second booster.
Hospitalizations of young children increased fivefold during omicron surge, but few died, says CDC report: “Young children in the United States were hospitalized at much higher rates this winter as omicron became the dominant variant than they were during the delta surge, according to a new report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At the peak of the omicron wave, infants and other children under 5 were hospitalized at about five times the rate documented during the delta wave, although few deaths were reported, the study said. For infants under six months, hospitalizations were about six times higher during the omicron surge.”
MIT-made COVID-19 vax produced by yeast could address global vaccine inequity: “Fifteen months since the first COVID-19 vaccine was authorized, only 14% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose compared to almost two-thirds of the global population.
Researchers at MIT and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center may have an inexpensive solution, announcing Wednesday that their yeast-produced COVID-19 jab, in combination with adjuvants, performed comparably to other approved vaccines, including J&J’s one-shot vax…
he researchers focused on producing a shot that could be easily manufactured, electing to develop a subunit vaccine with pieces of the receptor-binding domain portion of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. To boost the immunogenicity, the researchers coated a virus-like particle with the protein rather than just using the RBD protein itself. The RBD portion of the spike protein acts as the viral key that fits into the lock on cellular receptors in the body. Both the particle and the protein are produced by yeast, which can be grown in a bioreactor.”
Dr. Ashish Jha to replace Jeffrey Zients as Biden's COVID czar: “Ashish Jha, MD, dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, was tapped by President Joe Biden to serve as the next White House COVID-19 response coordinator.
Dr. Jha will succeed Jeffrey Zients, who has served in the role over the last 14 months.”
About health insurance
Anthem Blue Cross discontinues payment of consultation services: “Anthem Blue Cross is the latest payor to halt the reimbursement of consultation services. Effective January 1, 2022, Anthem is no longer reimbursing for inpatient and outpatient consultation CPT codes 99241-99245 and 99251-99255 for its for commercial insurance products. Instead, providers will need to bill utilizing the appropriate evaluation and management (E/M) procedure code that describes the office visit, hospital care, nursing facility care, home service or domiciliary/rest home care.
Anthem Blue Cross’ announcement follows similar policies previously implemented by Cigna and UnitedHealthcare disallowing reimbursement for consultation services for their commercial product lines."
Comment: It’s about time. Medicare did away with those codes on 1/1/2006 (and stopped accepting them for billing after 1/1/2010). The HHS OIG wrote at that time: “Medicare allowed approximately $1.1 billion more in 2001 than itmshould have for services that were billed as consultations.”
In my own research, published in 2009, I found: “Overall, the coding error rate was 32.4%. When the requesting physician ordered a consultation, the error rate was 5.5%; however, with lower paid referral requests, the error rate was 78.0%. Changing ambulatory consultation codes to those for new patient visits would save Medicare $534.5 million per year.”
Citi to Cover Worker Abortion Travel as States Limit Access: “Citigroup Inc. is starting to cover travel costs for employees seeking abortion after several states including Texas implemented or proposed a near-total ban on abortions.
‘In response to changes in reproductive health-care laws in certain states in the U.S., beginning in 2022 we provide travel benefits to facilitate access to adequate resources,’ the bank wrote in a filing for its shareholders meeting set for April 26.”
Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility and Enrollment Policies as of January 2022: Findings from a 50-State Survey: “The 20th annual survey of state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) officials conducted by KFF and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families in January 2022 presents a snapshot of actions states are taking to prepare for the lifting of the continuous enrollment requirement, as well as key state Medicaid enrollment and renewal procedures in place during the PHE [Public Health Emergency].”
One disturbing finding: “The majority of states (39) plan to take up to a full year to process redeterminations and return to routine operations…”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Reputation Report Healthcare Industry ‘22: “The Reputation Data Science team examined 2,778,931 patient ratings and reviews across providers’ websites and social channels to understand how and how often patients reviewed facilities and physicians in 2021.” Here are some highlights:
—Facility star ratings are on the rise: facilities achieved an average star rating of 4.4, up 0.05 points over 2020.
—Healthcare provider ratings are falling: physicians received an average star rating of 4.7, which was a drop of 0.03 points from 2020.
—Consumers pay close attention to star ratings: 72% of consumers told us that they want the provider they choose to be rated 4 out of 5 stars or higher.
—Biggest positive sentiment driver: the bedside manner of physicians and nurses constituted the strongest driver of positive sentiment.
—Biggest negative sentiment driver: ratings of staff were among the biggest drivers of negative sentiment.
Across all industries, employee feedback is consistently lower than customer feedback.
—Sentiment for healthcare as a whole is lower than other industries.
—Employee sentiment for all industries has trended lower for several years.
—Feedback from nurses has always been more negative and continues to be.
The study also ranks the top 15 systems by reputation. #1 is Community Health Systems with a score of 723.
By way of comparison, #15 is Intermountain with a score of 494.
Hospital mergers and acquisitions: 7 recent deals by the numbers: This item is FYI, no comment needed.
RACIAL INCLUSIVITY: The Lown Institute’s rankings of hospitals’ racial inclusivity and exclusivity.
The AHA and FAH urge CMS to deny DHR’s request for an exception to the prohibition on expansion of the facility capacity of a physician-owned hospital: “CMS is not obligated by statute or regulation to grant an expansion request to any facility that satisfies the ‘high Medicaid facility’ exception criteria, and CMS should deny DHR’s [Doctors Hospital at Renaissance,Edinburg, TX] request because the requested expansion is inconsistent with Congress’s intent, does not serve a valid public policy purpose, and would set a bad precedent.
Further, the current exception request clearly illustrates how the “high Medicaid facility” exception, as amended in the 2021 hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) final rule published on December 2, 2020, opens the door for requests that may technically meet, but clearly violate the spirit of the general statutory ban on physician-owned hospitals. Accordingly, we also urge CMS to reverse the 2020 amendments to the ‘high Medicaid facility’ exception.” [Emphasis in original]
About pharma
AstraZeneca throws open doors to new ideas in global postdoc challenge: “AstraZeneca is throwing open its doors to ideas from scientists near the start of their careers. Through its global R&D Postdoctoral Challenge, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker will equip researchers to pursue novel approaches to treating diseases.
Like other large drug developers, AstraZeneca runs a postdoc program. The challenge opens up a new way for AstraZeneca to engage with postdoc researchers and students in the final year of their M.D. or Ph.D. by enabling them to receive funding to study their own ideas.”
Walgreens Accused of Overcharging Health Plans for Drugs: “Blue Cross and Blue Shield units and other health care plans allege that Walgreen Co.engaged in a fraudulent scheme to overcharge for prescription drugs by submitting claims for payment at inflated prices and made false statements to conceal the scheme.
Walgreens has overcharged the plaintiffs hundreds of millions of dollars, the plaintiffs said in a Tuesday complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
A spokesperson for Walgreens declined to comment.”
Biogen’s Aduhelm Reduces Underlying Pathologies of Alzheimer Disease, New Data Show: “Biogen has announced new data showing that aducanumab-avwa (Aduhelm) injection 100 mg/mL for intravenous use continued to significantly reduce 2 key Alzheimer disease (AD) pathologies in a 128-week extension phase of a phase 3 trial.
The 2 pathologies that were reduced in the long-term extension phase were amyloid beta plaques and plasma p-tau181. The data also showed that in both phase 3 trials, at 78 weeks, individuals with reduced levels of plasma p-tau181 had less clinical decline than those who did not see that reduction.”
And in related news: Medicare premiums could decrease ‘soon,’ after decision on Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm: “Whether seniors get an unprecedented mid-year discount on Medicare premiums will hinge on a forthcoming decision about how the program will cover a pricey, controversial new Alzheimer’s drug that is expected by mid-April.”
About the public’s health
Sleep experts say Senate has it wrong: Standard time, not daylight saving, should be permanent: “Sleep experts widely agree with the Senate that the country should abandon its twice-yearly seasonal time changes. But they disagree on one key point: which time system should be permanent. Unlike the Senate, many sleep experts believe the country should adopt year-round standard time.
After the Senate voted unanimously and with little discussion Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine issued a statement cautioning that the move overlooks potential health risks associated with that time system. (The legislation, which would take effect next year, must get through the House and be signed by President Biden to become law.)”
Effect of cocoa flavanol supplementation for prevention of cardiovascular disease events: The COSMOS randomized clinical trial: “Cocoa extract supplementation did not significantly reduce total cardiovascular events among older adults but reduced CVD death by 27%… Additional research is warranted to clarify whether cocoa extract may reduce clinical cardiovascular events.”
US drug overdose deaths reach another record high as deaths from fentanyl surge: “An estimated 105,752 people died of a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending October 2021, according to provisional data published Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.
About two-thirds of those deaths involved synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, a stronger and faster-acting drug than natural opiates.”
About healthcare IT
Some highlights from HIMSS 2022:
Samsung rolls out smart healthcare TV, digital health tools for hospitals: “According to Samsung, its the first 4K QLED smart healthcare TV in the industry and transforms in-room displays into all-in-one communication hubs personalized for hospital patients and senior care residents, significantly improving collaboration, patient engagement and workflow efficiency.
The advanced in-room technology offers clinicians seamless access to display patient EHRs, information and telehealth consultations right in the room.”
The Race Toward Digital Transformation: 2022 Health System Survey: In November of 2021, The Chartis Group surveyed 143 U.S. health system executives about the state of digital transformation. Respondents represented a range of organization types, locations, and revenue sizes.”
Highlights presented at HIMSS 2022:
--”Although health systems overwhelmingly agree that digital transformation is critical, most are stuck in planning stages. [61% of respondents said the main reason for digital transformation is to improve outcomes; 23% said it was to reduce costs]
--The digital health competitive landscape is shifting as disruptors become rivals.
--These new market entrants, not traditional hospitals and health systems, are setting the pace toward digital transformation.
--Health systems want to better understand their patient consumers but have not aggregated those insights to meaningfully personalize care.
--Expanding their scope of insights beyond clinical interactions will give health systems the depth of understanding they need to create differentiated digital experiences.
--Key to successfully achieving digital transformation will be linking value drivers for the patient (like a seamless consumer experience) with value drivers for the health system.”
Salesforce connects its health tech solutions in new Customer 360 for Health suite: “Salesforce is expanding its consumer data platform offering to healthcare and life sciences companies to support the shift to tech-enabled care delivery…
The new healthcare suite includes care coordination support via Slack, virtual care infrastructure for remote visits and health scoring tools to predict outcomes as well as features to help organizations meet HIPAA compliance requirements.”
FCC awards $30M in telehealth funds to 16 providers: “The Federal Communications Commission on March 16 selected the fourth and final set of projects for its Connected Care Pilot Program, awarding nearly $30 million to 16 providers.
The program was introduced by the FCC in 2018. It began accepting applications in November 2020 and is set to fund 107 projects aimed at helping providers expand telehealth services.”