HHS Officially Repeals Biden-Era Nursing Home Staffing Mandate
Consumer groups expressed concern over the pullback. Other health care industry news is on physician burnout, AI scribes, pharmacy benefit managers, and more.
MedPage Today:
HHS Officially Rescinds Nursing Home Minimum Staffing Rule
The Trump administration on Tuesday rescinded a Biden-era rule that required a minimum number of healthcare staff in nursing homes. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Tuesday in a press release it is taking the action "after determining the final rule imposed by the Biden administration disproportionately burdened facilities, especially those serving rural and tribal communities, and jeopardized [patients'] access to care." (Frieden, 12/2)
Stat:
Independent Doctor Advocacy Group IndeMed Launches
A new health care advocacy group, which will represent the shrinking number of independent doctors in America, is launching Wednesday with an ambitious policy agenda. (Payne, 12/3)
UNC Media Hub:
MDs Reflect On Burnout, The Emotional Costs Of Care
Dr. Amir Barzin, a family medicine physician and the chief operating officer at UNC Health, starts each morning with a solitary run to clear his mind before the day begins. The routine, he said, helps him manage the daily pressures of working in health care — pressures that many physicians across the country face. (Kollme, 12/3)
Stat:
AI Scribes Make Clinicians Happy, But Don't Save Them A Lot Of Time
With a promise to reduce burden on overworked doctors, ambient scribes that automate the process of writing clinical notes have become the vanguard use case for generative artificial intelligence in health care. The technology has garnered more than $1 billion in investment this year alone, and hundreds of health systems have already adopted these tools. (Aguilar and Trang, 12/3)
On CMS payments for telehealth and wearables —
Modern Healthcare:
CMMI Introduces New ACCESS Payment Model. Here's What To Know
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation on Monday introduced a payment model that reimburses providers for using telehealth, wearables and other digital health technologies. The ACCESS (Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions) Model, which begins next year, will reward providers for improving outcomes for traditional Medicare beneficiaries with chronic conditions. (Perna, 12/2)
More tech and pharma news —
CNN:
Injuries, Deaths Linked With With Errors From Abbott Diabetes Care Diabetes Glucose Monitors
Certain glucose monitors from Abbott Diabetes Care are providing users with incorrect glucose readings, an error that has been linked with the deaths of at least seven people and more than 700 serious injuries worldwide, according to an alert from the US Food and Drug Administration. (McPhillips, 12/2)
Modern Healthcare:
Why Express Scripts, OptumRX Are Losing Ground To Upstart PBMs
Small and mid-sized pharmacy benefit managers sense an opportunity to grow market share headed into the new year. CVS Health subsidiary CVS Caremark, UnitedHealth Group unit OptumRx and Cigna division Express Scripts have an iron grip on the pharmacy benefits landscape, but have been embattled by government agencies, lawmakers and customers. Amid this, new PBMs and other companies have emerged promising alternatives to the standard pharmacy benefits model that’s been criticized as opaque and ineffective. (Tong, 12/2)
Stat:
Aging Startup Retro Bio Chases $5 Billion Valuation
The team behind Retro Bio, a longevity startup backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is close to raising what could be one of the drug industry’s largest investment rounds. And although the company doesn’t have any clinical data in hand yet, it is chasing a $5 billion valuation. (DeAngelis, 12/3)
