Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
90% Positive: Officials Request Field Hospital To Treat Infected Prisoners
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Carson City Official Calls For Field Hospital To Treat Prisoners
The Carson City manager on Thursday requested that the state supply a field hospital to treat the 470 prisoners who have tested positive for the coronavirus at Warm Springs Correctional Center, which advocates and family members said is a “human rights crisis.” During Nevada’s weekly COVID-19 task force meeting, Carson City Manager Nancy Paulson called for the Department of Corrections to establish a field hospital “in an effort to reduce the impact of our overall hospital operations” at Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center. (Newberg, 11/19)
In other health industry news —
Modern Healthcare: Blues Patient-Matching Project Hits 99.5% Accuracy
The Sequoia Project, a healthcare interoperability not-for-profit, on Thursday released a supplement to a patient-matching framework it released in 2018, this time focusing on matching people between payers. The supplement, a case study with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, reports reaching a 99.5% accuracy rate when matching members to their records by creating a new member-matching algorithm, applying principles from the Sequoia Project's 2018 framework for cross-organizational patient identity management. (Kim Cohen, 11/19)
Modern Healthcare: Provider Groups Urge Congress To Pare Back MACRA Requirements
Nineteen provider organizations asked Congressional leaders to lower some Quality Payment Program requirements. The letter, sent on Thursday, claims many clinicians can't meet key thresholds in the Quality Payment Program going into effect Jan. 1, 2021, and will drop out of the program as a result. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which established the Quality Payment Program, requires in 2021 that clinicians receive at least 75% of Medicare part B payments through an advanced alternative payment model or see at least 50% of Medicare beneficiaries through the advanced model in order to receive a 5% bonus on part B Medicare claims. The requirements are different from 2020 when 50% of Medicare part B payments or 35% of Medicare beneficiaries have to be through the advanced alternative payment model to qualify for the bonus. (Castellucci, 11/19)
Modern Healthcare: Nuance To Sell Transcription, EHR Go-Live Services Businesses
Nuance Communications on Wednesday unveiled plans to sell two of its business lines in a move to focus on its artificial intelligence work. Burlington, Mass.-based Nuance plans to sell its health information management transcription and electronic health record go-live services business to a newly formed company, dubbed DeliverHealth Solutions, in early 2021. DeliverHealth is an independent company; however, Nuance is a minority shareholder and will provide it with technology support. (Kim Cohen, 11/19)
