Health Care Workers Feel Beleaguered

CIDRAP: One In 5 COVID-Affected Health Workers Weighs Quitting: Study
More than one in five healthcare workers (21%) have at least moderately considered leaving the workforce and 30% have considered reducing hours because of COVID-19 stress, according to a study in JAMA Network Open. Unlike previous studies that have reported healthcare workers' mental health burden during the pandemic, this survey-based study looks at childcare, career development prospects, and stress. (McLernon, 4/2)

Modern Healthcare: 10% Of Black Patients Report Prejudice By Their Healthcare Provider
Black adults were more likely than patients from other racial and ethnic groups to report discrimination against them by a healthcare provider both prior to and during the pandemic. An Urban Institute report released Monday found 10.6% of Black patients reported being discriminated against or being unfairly judged based on their race, ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or health condition by clinical staff sometime over the previous 12 months. By comparison, 3.6% of white adults and 4.5% of Latino individuals reported experiencing discrimination during a healthcare visit. (Ross Johnson, 4/5)

KHN: Despite Covid, Many Wealthy Hospitals Had A Banner Year With Federal Bailout 
Last May, Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest nonprofit hospital system in Texas, laid off 1,200 employees and furloughed others as it braced for the then-novel coronavirus to spread. The cancellation of lucrative elective procedures as the hospital pivoted to treat a new and less profitable infectious disease presaged financial distress, if not ruin. The federal government rushed $454 million in relief funds to help shore up its operations. But Baylor not only weathered the crisis, it thrived. By the end of 2020, Baylor had accumulated an $815 million surplus, $20 million more than it had in 2019, creating a 7.5% operating margin that would be the envy of most other hospitals in the flushest of eras, a KHN examination of financial statements shows. (Rau and Spolar, 4/5)

Burlington Free Press: UVM Hospital Ease Some COVID Visitor Limits For Fully Vaccinated
UVM Health Network is easing restrictions on visitors who are fully vaccinated as of Friday, April 2, allowing one visit per day with inpatients. Other restrictions remain in place, and policies vary slightly by hospital, so visitors are encouraged to check first before visiting. In addition to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, the UVM Health Network includes Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin and Porter Medical Center in Middlebury. (D'Ambrosio, 4/2)

Georgia Health News: New Treatment Sought For Two Struggling Hospitals 
Five years ago, Marietta-based Wellstar Health System bought five Georgia hospitals from Tenet Healthcare. The prize of the lot was seen to be North Fulton Hospital in suburban Roswell, not far from Wellstar’s hub. Today, it’s doing well financially, as expected. Two other hospitals, in towns on the southern outskirts of metro Atlanta, have made a profit as well. (Miller, 4/2)

Modern Healthcare: 40 Oregon Providers, Insurers Sign Value-Based Care Pact
Dozens of Oregon healthcare companies have committed to boosting their value-based payment models as the state looks to reduce healthcare expenses. Forty healthcare organizations, including some of state's largest health systems and insurers, signed a voluntary compact Thursday that aims to tie 70% of their payments to capitation and other alternative payment models by 2024. The pledge aligns with the Oregon's cost growth benchmark that goes into effect this year, which looks to reduce the current 6.5% cost growth rate to 3.4%, said Jeremy Vandehey, director of the health policy and analytics division at the Oregon Health Authority. (Kacik, 4/2)

In more health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: UnitedHealthcare Sued For Allegedly Bribing Providers To Avoid Out-Of-Network Referrals
U.S. Anesthesia Partners sued UnitedHealth Group in two states on Wednesday, calling the nation's largest insurer a "boa constrictor" that allegedly squeezed the 4,000-member physician practice out of so much business it went to the courts to regain its clients. "United and its affiliates have extended their tentacles into virtually every aspect of healthcare, allowing United to squeeze, choke, and crush any market participant that stands in the way of United's increased profits," the physician group's lawsuit in a Texas state court reads. (Tepper, 4/2)

Stat: BMS To Pay $75 Million To Settle Allegation Of Underpaying Rebates
After years of litigation, Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) agreed to pay $75 million, plus interest, to resolve allegations of knowingly underpaying rebates that were owed to state Medicaid programs. The settlement, which the company had signaled a year ago was in the works, stems from a whistleblower lawsuit filed in 2013 by the former head of a health care industry trade group who had filed similar suits against several drug makers. (Silverman, 4/2)

Boston Globe: Boston’s Hospital Chiefs Moonlight On Corporate Boards At Rates Far Beyond The National Level
As chief of Boston Children’s Hospital, one of the most esteemed pediatric hospitals in the world, Sandra Fenwick had outsized influence. After the pandemic struck last spring, she used that clout to lobby Massachusetts legislators for more money for telemedicine, a suddenly essential alternative to in-person visits. She also spoke glowingly about remote care during an online forum last September, saying that satisfaction among patients and staff was hitting “eight, nine, and 10.’' The hospital, she told a Harvard public health professor, would objectively study the best uses of telemedicine, but she predicted it “is absolutely here to stay.” What she did not say on both occasions was that she had a highly paid side job: She has, since 2019, had a seat on the board of directors of a major, for-profit telemedicine company. (Kowalczyk, Ryley, Arsenault and Wen, 4/3)