‘Unsustainable’: Sweeping Report Examines Long-Term Care In US

North Carolina Health News: Report Raises Questions On U.S. Nursing Home Care 
“Ineffective, inefficient, fragmented, and unsustainable.” That’s the summation of the state of U.S. nursing homes — their practices, oversight and funding — that appears in a sweeping report from an expert committee of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. Members of the committee compared the new report, “The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality,” published in April, with a landmark 1986 publication by the related Institute of Medicine, “Improving the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes.” The earlier paper highlighted many problems with the nursing-home system, including resident neglect, poor health-care quality, and inadequate regulation. Many of those critiques resulted in significant changes in federal policy in the 1987 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. (Goldsmith and Hoban, 6/15)

In pediatric news —

The Boston Globe: Boston Children’s Hospital Ranked No. 1 Pediatric Hospital In Nation For Ninth Year In A Row By US News & World Report
For the ninth year in a row, Boston Children’s Hospital has been ranked the No. 1 pediatric hospital in the country by US News & World Report. Dr. Kevin B. Churchwell, Boston Children’s Hospital’s president and chief executive officer, admitted to feeling some trepidation before this year’s rankings were released, and was pleased to learn that the hospital had claimed the top spot yet again. He credited those who work at the hospital and said the recognition was a tribute to their dedication to the patients and families that they serve. “These rankings are the product of everyone who works at Boston Children’s and the work they do every day,” Churchwell said in a phone interview. (Sweeney, 6/14)

Houston Chronicle: Lawsuit: Error At Texas Children’s Led To Vasectomy Of 4-Year-Old
The family of a 4-year-old boy is suing Texas Children’s Hospital over an Aug. 4 surgery in which a doctor mistakenly gave the child a partial vasectomy, according to the lawsuit. The complaint, filed June 7 in Harris County on behalf of John and Krystal Brod, names the primary surgeon, Dr. Susan Jarosz, and the hospital as defendants. In a statement, the hospital said its “top priority is the health and well-being of our patients” but that it cannot comment on pending litigation. The hospital had not filed a formal legal response by Tuesday. (Gill, 6/14)

In other health care industry news —

Stat: Many BCBS Plans Aren’t Paying Taxes And Instead Are Swimming In Refunds
The Blue Cross Blue Shield system of health insurance companies boasts on its website, “We take corporate responsibility seriously.” The insurers have offered “a neighborly helping hand as Americans weathered the crisis” of the coronavirus pandemic. But that helping hand has also received billions of dollars from the federal government over the past four years as part of a tax system that has favored, and has been partly molded by, Blue Cross Blue Shield. (Herman, 6/15)

Louisville Courier Journal: Humana, University Of Louisville To Collaborate On Health Research Hub
Humana has donated a sizeable downtown building to the University of Louisville, the Kentucky-based insurance company announced Monday, to serve as home base for the school's Health Equity Innovation Hub. The building is located at 515 W. Market St., with eight floors and 130,000 square feet of office space. The insurance company, downtown Louisville's largest employer, recently vacated the space and had been looking for a tenant that would "add to the vibrancy and diversity of downtown while also aligning closely with Humana’s mission to improve the health and wellbeing of our members and communities,” according to Douglas Edwards, Humana's senior vice president of enterprise associate and business solutions. (Rocío Álvarez Bríñez, 6/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Mental-Health Startup Cerebral Investigated By FTC 
The Federal Trade Commission has begun an investigation into mental-health startup Cerebral Inc., according to a letter the FTC sent the company that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. In the letter dated June 1, the FTC said it was investigating whether Cerebral engaged in deceptive or unfair practices related to advertising or marketing of mental-health services. The letter also directed the company to preserve documents. (Winkler and Safdar, 6/14)

Modern Healthcare: AMA To Fight Legislation Expanding Scope Of Practice
The American Medical Association pledged to fight legislation that expands mid-level providers' autonomy. Under a new policy proposal adopted Tuesday by the AMA House of Delegates, the trade group will support research on the cost and quality of nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other advanced practice practitioners caring for patients without a doctor's supervision. The association will help craft state legislation to oppose laws that expand the scope of practice for non-physicians and to reverse such laws that already exist. (Kim Cohen, 6/14)

Fortune: Hospitals Have Become Less Safe During The Pandemic. So Why Does The Government Want To Suppress Hospital Safety Data? 
There’s little question that U.S. hospitals—up against COVID, patient surges, and labor and supply shortages—have become less safe for patients during the pandemic, as preventable events and complications have become more common. Leaders with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said as much, earlier this year, in an article for the New England Journal of Medicine: “Many indicators make it clear that health care safety has declined,” they wrote, noting, “the fact that the pandemic degraded patient safety so quickly and severely suggests that our health care system lacks a sufficiently resilient safety culture and infrastructure.” Despite such frank assessments, CMS is now at odds with public safety advocates about whether to make some of the hospital-specific data behind those trends publicly available. (Fry, 6/14)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri Psychiatric Hospitals Still Understaffed As Officials Push For Mental Health Treatment 
Staffing problems continue to dog Missouri’s mental hospitals despite attempts by Gov. Mike Parson and the Legislature to boost state worker pay. According to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, there are currently 203 individuals awaiting admission to state psychiatric hospitals after being ordered by a judge for “competency restoration.” That’s up from nearly 160 people in January when staffing woes at the hospitals were blamed on the state failing to keep pace with the private sector when it comes to salaries. (Erickson, 6/14)

KHN: Buy And Bust: When Private Equity Comes For Rural Hospitals 
When the new corporate owners of two rural hospitals suddenly announced they would stop admitting patients one Friday in March, Kayla Schudel, a nurse, stood resolute in the nearly empty lobby of Audrain Community Hospital: “You’ll be seen; the ER is open.” The hospital — with 40 beds and five clinics — typically saw 24 to 50 emergency room cases a day, treating patients from the surrounding 1,000-plus acre farms and tiny no-stoplight towns, she said. She wouldn’t abandon them. A week later Noble Health had the final word: It locked the doors. (Tribble, 6/15)