Best Buy To Acquire At-Home Health Care Tech Startup

Modern Healthcare: Best Buy Continues Healthcare Push With Current Health Acquisition
Best Buy on Tuesday said it plans to acquire Current Health, a technology startup that develops tools for at-home healthcare. The acquisition supports the consumer electronics retailer's ongoing push into the at-home healthcare market. "The future of consumer technology is directly connected to the future of healthcare," said Deborah Di Sanzo, president of Best Buy Health, in a news release. "By combining Current Health's remote care management platform with our existing health products and services, we can create a holistic care ecosystem." (Kim Cohen, 10/12)

In other health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: AmeriHealth Caritas Enters ACA Exchange As Medicaid Redeterminations Loom
Medicare and Medicaid managed-care provider AmeriHealth Caritas will enter the Affordable Care Act exchange market in 2022, the Philadelphia-based insurer said Tuesday. AmeriHealth, which covers 5 million lives across 13 states and the District of Columbia, will debut six different ACA health plans at various levels across 25 North Carolina counties during open enrollment this year, which runs from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15. The company said it plans to model its exchange plans on its Medicaid offerings, which place a strong focus on the social determinants of health that affect a patient along with AmeriHealth's care management and wellness programs. AmeriHealth, which was unable to comment by deadline, has recently invested in these models. (Tepper, 10/12)

Modern Healthcare: Olympus Says U.S. IT Systems Hit By Possible Cyberattack
Medical technology company Olympus has taken down some of its information-technology systems as it investigates a possible cyberattack, the company said Tuesday. Olympus in an online notice said the company detected "suspicious activity" on its IT systems in the Americas, which includes Canada, Latin America and the U.S., over the weekend. Olympus did not share details of the suspicious behavior but said the company has deployed a response team of forensics experts to investigate the possible cyberattack. As part of the effort to contain the problem, Olympus suspended the affected Canada, Latin America and U.S. IT systems and notified "relevant external partners," though it didn't specify who those partners included. (Kim Cohen, 10/12)

USA Today: Illinois VA Nursing Home Didn't Follow Federal Guidelines To Contain COVID-19. 11 Residents Died
Leaders and staff at a federal veterans’ nursing home in Illinois mismanaged a coronavirus outbreak that killed 11 residents in fall 2020, well after employees had been put on notice about the danger the pandemic posed to its elderly population, a government investigation found. A staff member exposed at home was denied a test and told to just wear a mask while finishing a shift caring for residents. The employee tested positive the next day. Testing was inconsistent, even after the virus started to spread within the Veterans Affairs complex in Danville, in a rural part of the state near the Indiana border. Isolation of exposed individuals – even those who tested positive – was haphazard. (Slack, 10/12)

WUFT: A Mobile Dental Unit Is Providing Care For Underserved Communities In Marion County 
The Langley Mobile Dental Unit is a federally funded mobile van that offers free dental services to Marion County residents. The mobile dental unit has served hundreds of patients in the five years it’s been running, according to operations director Paul Quinn. He said some patients are uninsured. Others are homeless, low-income or migrant workers. Still, more are patients with mental illness or battling drug addiction. For all these Marion County patients, in different situations, the Langley Mobile Dental Unit is a godsend. (Ewing, Ocasio and Dergins, 10/12)

KHN: Health Industry Wields Power In California’s High-Stakes Battle To Lower Health Care Costs
Gavin Newsom put California’s health care industry on notice when he was a candidate for governor, vowing in 2018 to go after the insurance companies, doctors and hospitals that leave many Californians struggling with enormous medical bills and rising insurance premiums. He pledged to lead California’s single-payer movement, a high-stakes liberal dream that would eliminate private health insurance and slash how much providers are paid. The tough rhetoric continued after he was elected, when Newsom told insurers to “do their damn job” to improve mental health treatment or face fines, and he vowed to cut the health care industry’s soaring revenues. (Hart and Young, 10/13)

In corporate news —

Modern Healthcare: BCBS CEOs Received Bigger Raises In 2020 Than Execs At For-Profit Insurers, Report Says
The CEOs of Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurers received larger compensation increases in 2020 compared with their for-profit counterparts, a recent report found. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota CEO Craig Samitt's 109% year-over-year increase represented the biggest pay bump to $3.3 million in 2020, according to an AIS Health analysis of CEO compensation at the 42 largest insurers by commercial enrollment. A BCBS Minnesota spokesperson noted that Samitt retired in May and declined to comment on his compensation. (Tepper, 10/12)

Florida Times-Union: Mayo Clinic Jacksonville Expands With Emergency Services, Hotel, Restaurant And More 
Mayo Clinic Jacksonville is undergoing a $460 million-plus building boom to expand its internationally respected medical care and improve services for patients, their families, researchers and hospital personnel. The recently announced $70 million Hilton hotel to be built on the Southside medical center campus is the newest among six major projects in various stages at the medical center. Five others either are in the design phase, under construction or recently completed at the medical center, Kevin Punsky, Mayo Clinic communications manager, told the Florida Times-Union. (Stepzinski, 10/12)

Stat: Big Health Scores A Deal To Bring Its Digital Therapeutics To An Entire Country
Part of the allure of software-based medical treatments is the possibility of reaching people in need at scale. And there’s no scale as compelling as absolutely everyone. Scotland’s National Health Service today announced that all adults in the country will have easy access to products from digital therapeutics developer Big Health. Roughly 5 million people will be eligible for access to Sleepio, the company’s product to treat insomnia with CBT, and Daylight, which is indicated for anxiety. (Aguilar, 10/13)