Protective Gear Prices Remain High

Modern Healthcare: One Year Into Pandemic, Hospitals Have More PPE, But Prices Still Inflated
Hospitals' spending on N95 masks is up 715% since March 2020, although they have more inventory than during last year's COVID-19 spikes, a new Premier analysis finds. One year into the devastating global pandemic, the supply chain for personal protective equipment has recovered somewhat from the catastrophic weeks of March 2020, but remains strained, with hospitals continuing to pay more than they did pre-pandemic. Those higher prices contributed to hospitals' to lower operating margins in 2020. (4/1)

Stat: Former CMS Leader Seema Verma Joins Board Of Health Tech Firm Lumeris
She was President Trump’s top Medicare official. Now, Seema Verma, the former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid administrator, is taking a seat on the board of directors at Lumeris, a health tech company that uses software to help health systems manage value-based reimbursement requirements. To some, the appointment could come as a surprise: Verma, a Republican, has publicly criticized some value-based care models and advocated for stricter controls to government health programs, especially in Medicaid, in which she pushed changes like requiring recipients to prove current employment. (Brodwin, 4/1)

The New York Times: Doctors Accuse UnitedHealthcare Of Stifling Competition
UnitedHealthcare, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, is being sued in two states by a large group of anesthesiologists who are accusing the company of stifling competition by forcing the doctors out of its network and by using its enormous clout to pressure hospitals and surgeons to stop referring patients to them. The lawsuits, filed Wednesday in Colorado and Texas, were brought by U.S. Anesthesia Partners, a sizable physician-owned practice backed by private-equity investors. The practice claims in the Texas lawsuit that United engaged in “unlawful tactics and pressure campaigns,” including “bribing” surgeons with contracts that paid them much more if they steered patients away from the group’s anesthesiologists. (Abelson, 4/1)

In other health industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Lack Of Diversity In Healthcare Likely To Continue, Study Finds
Racial and ethnic minorities continue to be underrepresented in the healthcare workforce despite increased attention toward improving diversity, and a new analysis predicts it will only get worse in the coming years. An analysis of diversity occupational data published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open found Black and Latino individuals were underrepresented across 10 healthcare professions when compared to their proportion of working-age adults. (Johnson, 4/1)

Stat: An Antitrust Expert Weighs In On The FTC's Complaint Against Illumina
Spare a thought for Illumina. The $56 billion dollar titan of genomics has become the world’s leading supplier of DNA sequencing technology. That’s been great for the company’s bottom line over the years. But Illumina’s market dominance is making it incredibly difficult to expand the business. The latest example came this week when the Federal Trade Commission moved to block Illumina’s $7.1 billion merger with the cancer testing company Grail. Now Grail’s products are meant to detect cancer at the earliest stages when it’s most susceptible to treatment. (Feuerstein, Tirrell and Garde, 4/2)

Modern Healthcare: Atrium Health Navicent Starts Vaccinating Homebound Georgia Residents
Atrium Health Navicent is working with the Georgia Department of Public Health to administer COVID-19 vaccines to residents who are homebound. Nurses with the Macon, Ga.-based health system started administering the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine Thursday to individuals identified by the Area Agency on Aging and the Department of Public Health. (Christ, 4/1)

Tampa Bay Times: Tampa Physicians Group Suspected Of Making False Federal Medical Claims
A physicians group suspected of making false claims to the federal government wants its emails back. In response to a demand made in June 2018, Physician Partners of America turned over to federal investigators some 2,500 emails from more than 500 employees at 35 company locations in Florida and Texas, according to a Justice Department lawsuit filed last month with U.S. District Court in Tampa. (Dawson, 4/1)