Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'All-Hands-On-Deck Moment': Investors In Tech World Provide 'Exotic' Methods To Provide Attractive Funding
Stat: The Rare Investment Tool Behind Some Health Tech Coronavirus Projects
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary financing instruments, according to one California venture capital firm. A San Francisco-based early-stage investor, Fifty Years, has offered $25,000 to 14 of the health tech companies it’s already invested in, all of which are now working on coronavirus-related projects — and that money is coming with far fewer strings than usual. It’s hoping the extra money will allow its portfolio companies to produce tests, treatments, or basic needed supplies like masks or hand sanitizers. (Sheridan, 4/8)
The New York Times: Jack Dorsey Vows To Donate $1 Billion To Fight The Coronavirus
Jack Dorsey, the chief executive of Twitter and Square, said on Tuesday that he planned to donate $1 billion, or just under a third of his total wealth, to relief programs related to the coronavirus, in one of the more significant efforts by a tech billionaire to fight the pandemic. Mr. Dorsey said he would put 28 percent of his wealth, in the form of shares in his mobile payments company Square, into a limited liability company that he had created, called Start Small. Start Small would make grants to beneficiaries, he said, with the expenditures to be recorded in a publicly accessible Google document. (Isaac, 4/7)
Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Telehealth Expansion Needs Critical Changes, Experts Say
While the healthcare industry is generally supportive of the CMS' efforts to expand telehealth services under Medicare Advantage, it has some problems with the policy details. It's also split on network adequacy standards for dialysis patients and united against the agency's proposal to change how it weighs patient experience in its Star Ratings system. (Brady, 4/7)
Boston Globe: In A Huge Shift Because Of Coronavirus, Most Doctors Now ‘Seeing’ Patients By Phone Or Video
Where does it hurt? When doctors at Boston’s renowned teaching hospitals ask patients that question these days, it’s usually in a video conference or telephone call, even when physicians are treating people for life-threatening illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. Three weeks after Governor Charlie Baker ordered health insurers to cover telehealth in an effort to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, most outpatients at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute are “seeing” their physicians remotely. (Saltzman, 4/7)
Indianapolis Star: Telehealth Therapy During The Coronavirus Pandemic: What To Know
As Indiana sees staggering increases in the number of people seeking help for mental health and addiction during the coronavirus pandemic, state officials are encouraging Hoosiers to utilize telehealth. Experts say the uncertainty of the pandemic is causing many people extra stress and anxiety. For those with existing mental health conditions, the impact is exacerbated. (DePompei, 4/8)
Modern Healthcare: HCA Healthcare Opens Up COVID-19 Data Portal On Google's Cloud
For-profit hospital chain HCA Healthcare is encouraging other hospitals to share COVID-19 data through a new project it unveiled Monday, dubbed the COVID-19 National Response Portal. HCA's vision is for hospitals across the U.S. to share data on COVID-19 testing results, critical-care beds, ventilator utilization and patient discharges, which the platform can aggregate to aid in response to the novel coronavirus. Illustrating the spread of the pandemic could help hospitals plan for challenges such as patient surges. (Cohen, 4/7)
