The 2023 Healthcare Marketers Trend Report: A trim off the top “…per the MM+M/Swoop 2023 Healthcare Marketers Survey, marketing budgets slid by 8%.
The average marketing budget fell to $7.6 million, down from $8.3 million in last year’s survey. That spending level is a long way off the pre-pandemic boom times of 2019, when the average budget reached a peak of $12.5 million…
One exception to the belt-tightening trend is physician outreach, as 51% of respondents reported that they’d fattened those budgets. The result: Spending aimed at HCPs [health care personnel] now accounts for 53% of the marketing pie.”
Well worth a read for those interested in marketing.
About Covid-19
Diabetes drug proves beneficial in preventing long COVID in clinical trials “COVID-19 patients who took the diabetes drug metformin for two weeks after a diagnosis were less likely to develop long COVID-19 symptoms, according to results from a clinical trial.
The trial enrolled about a thousand participants who were symptomatic with a COVID-19 infection for less than a week. Participants were randomly selected to receive a placebo or one of three drugs: metformin, ivermectin or fluvoxamine.
About 6 percent of people who took metformin later developed long COVID-19, as determined by a medical diagnosis. In the placebo group, 10.6 percent of participants developed long COVID-19.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
10 health systems reporting profits in 2022 Amidst all the losses, this article is some good news.
About pharma
WeightWatchers buys Sequence to expand into remote prescribing of hot weight loss drugs “The well-known weight loss company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Weekend Health, the corporate name of Sequence. Clinicians use the platform to provide clinical care, including prescriptions, for patients navigating chronic weight management. Sequence also claims to help patients traverse the insurance approval process.”
Pain Clinic Owners Sentenced for Unlawfully Distributing Opioids and Multimillion-Dollar Health Care Fraud While these cases are, sadly, too common, this one is especially large.
"According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Mark Murphy and Jennifer Murphy owned and operated North Alabama Pain Services (NAPS), which closed its Decatur and Madison offices in early 2017…. Over the approximately five-year period leading up to the clinic closing its Alabama locations, the evidence at sentencing showed, Murphy wrote prescriptions for more than ten million opioid pills, including millions of oxycodone 30 mg tablets. During the same five-year period, Murphy and his wife Jennifer, who helped run the clinics, ordered tens of millions of dollars of unnecessary items and services that were paid by taxpayer-funded and private insurance programs. The Murphys received kickbacks for those orders and prescriptions. In all, Medicare, TRICARE, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama were billed more than $280 million as a result of the fraud and kickback schemes, and paid more than $50 million. Mark Murphy and Jennifer Murphy were each ordered to pay more than $50 million in restitution. Jennifer Murphy was also convicted of tax-related charges for underreporting clinic income.”
Emphasis added.
FDA issues rare comment on approval of Covid and flu home test from company that went bankrupt “Last week, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization for the first at-home Covid-19 and flu combination test. The news came just days after the test’s maker, Lucira, filed for bankruptcy, blaming the FDA’s ‘protracted’ approval process for its financial problems.
Now the FDA has released a rare comment clarifying what happened during its authorization process. The new details are raising hopes among other home-test manufacturers that the FDA is becoming more flexible about its requirements for approving at-home flu test kits.
The FDA ultimately authorized Lucira’s test with fewer samples than the agency had previously said it would require for approval…”
About the public’s health
What running does to the knees, according to a large survey of marathon runners “A new study found that runners were not more likely to develop hip or knee osteoarthritis the longer, faster and more frequently they ran.”
Biden administration requests $20 billion cash infusion to bolster public health “In its budget request to Congress on Thursday, the White House asked for $20 billion over five years to support pandemic preparedness efforts at the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration. The request aligns with the White House’s National Biodefense Plan.”
About healthcare IT
Healthcare data breaches “2022 has 717 reported breaches so far, just surpassing 2021's total of 715.”
The article lists the top 10 by people affected.
And in a related story: Data breach hits 'hundreds' of lawmakers and staff on Capitol Hill “A top House official said that a ‘significant data breach’ at the health insurance marketplace for Washington, D.C., on Tuesday potentially exposed personal identifiable information of hundreds of lawmakers and staff.
In a letter obtained by NBC News, Chief Administrative Officer Catherine L. Szpindor said Wednesday that the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI had alerted her to a data breach at DC Health Link, the Affordable Care Act online marketplace that administers health care plans for members of Congress and certain Capitol Hill staff.”
HHS Partners with the Private Sector to Enhance Cybersecurity across Health Systems and Address Future Vulnerabilities Yesterday, “the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), released a cybersecurity implementation guide to help the public and private health care sectors prevent cybersecurity incidents. The Cybersecurity Framework Implementation Guide provides specific steps that health care organizations can take immediately to manage cyber risks to their information technology systems…
[The guide] was jointly developed by HHS ASPR and the Health Sector Coordinating Council (HSCC) Cybersecurity Working Group, a public-private partnership under Presidential Policy Directive 21. The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and other federal agencies contributed substantially to its content. Recent high-profile cyberattacks reinforce the need for companies and organizations to assess their cyber health and resilience and take actions to improve cybersecurity.”
About healthcare personnel
Job Cuts Hit 77,770 In February 2023; Highest YTD Since 2009 “The Health Care/Products space, which includes hospitals and health care products manufacturers, announced the second-most cuts in February with 9,749, for a total of 16,482 this year. That is an 85% increase from the 8,928 cuts announced during the same time last year.”
Patient perspectives: How patients find and pick their doctors “Here are 3 key takeaways from this year’s findings
An online presence is non-negotiable for attracting new patients
3 in 4 people look online to find out about doctors, dentists, or medical
care — and it’s especially important when people are searching for new care providers. A website is just the start; pay attention to reviews, online directories, and other digital touchpoints.
Text message is still the most popular way to contact patients about appointments Patients appreciate when their healthcare provider keeps them informed about appointments (when they need to be scheduled, when they’re coming up, follow-up information, etc.). For most of these reminders, patients prefer digital interactions, including text messaging.
Patients would engage in social media with providers if they could
Only 18% of respondents said they follow their doctor’s office on social media, but 45% said they would if their doctor posted regularly. Social media is a missed opportunity for practices to engage with patients outside the office.”
About healthcare finance
Fierce Biotech Fundraising Tracker '23 FYI “Like last year's tracker, we will continue to include any fundraising rounds north of $30 million. We'll still profile exciting new companies and larger rounds in-depth, but we’re hoping to focus more coverage on clinical trial results, special reports and enterprise stories…”