Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Chiefs Fans Raise Over $300K For Buffalo Children's Hospital
CBS News: Chiefs Fans Help Raise More Than $300,000 For Buffalo Children's Hospital After Dramatic Win Over Bills
Since the Kansas City Chiefs' dramatic overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills last Sunday, Chiefs fans have helped raise more than $300,000 in donations to a local children's hospital in Western New York. Many of the donations were for $13 – the same amount of seconds it took the Chiefs to tie the game against the Bills. On Thursday, Oishei Children's Hospital tweeted their gratitude to Chiefs fans, saying it received $312,800 from over 15,800 donors. "This team works hard caring for the kids in WNY & your donations help ensure they have all the tools needed to be ready to help," the hospital said. (Brito, 1/27)
In other health care industry news —
The Boston Globe: Mass General Brigham Fights Back Against Criticisms Of Expansion
Mass General Brigham defended plans on Thursday to undertake a $2.3 billion expansion, writing to state regulators that concerns about the project’s effects on health care spending were overstated and that a state agency criticizing the projects had overstepped its authority. In documents filed with the Department of Public Health, the state’s largest health system outlined the case for its expansion, which includes opening ambulatory sites in Westborough, Westwood, and Woburn, and building multi-million dollar additions at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. (Bartlett, 1/27)
Axios: Uber Plans ‘One-Stop Shop’ For Health Logistics
In news that will surprise those that didn't know Uber Health was a thing, the company recently picked up Michael Cantor as its first chief medical officer. Uber made its name shuttling people from bars and restaurants, but the company sees a future in connecting parts of the health care ecosystem. The new appointment underscores the company’s commitment to investing in the health care sector. (Brodwin, 1/28)
Dallas Morning News: Texas Doctors Condemn Closure Of Dallas Clinic For Transgender Children
More than 400 doctors and health care professionals signed a letter addressed to two Dallas hospitals decrying the closure of the state’s only comprehensive medical program for transgender children, The Dallas Morning News has learned. Addressed to leadership at the University of Texas Southwestern and Children’s Health and sent in late November, the letter urges the hospitals to reverse course on shuttering the clinic. The News exclusively obtained the letter from sources involved in its drafting. “As Texan health care providers, we are writing to you to express grave concerns regarding recent news that there are plans to shut down the Genecis clinic, which provides treatment for transgender and gender-diverse youth,” the letter’s signers said. (Wolf and McGaughy, 1/27)
Axios: The Pitch: Subscribe N' Save On Medical Costs
In recent months, subscription health care service businesses have attracted significant attention from venture capitalists, according to a recent PitchBook report. Venture capitalists have been pouring money into subscription startups, including Crossover Health, Tia Clinic and Oak Street Health. Like One Medical and Forward, these companies promise to save users under the assumption that their models will save on downstream medical costs by connecting patients to more consistent care. (Brodwin, 1/27)
Also —
Modern Healthcare: Female Clinicians Spend More Time With Patients And Earn Less Because Of It, Study Shows
Female clinicians spend more time filling out patients' electronic health records and thus treat fewer patients, according to a new study that highlights the economic effects of a volume-over-value payment model on women in the workforce. The EHR vendor Athenahealth analyzed how 14,520 clinicians used its record systems over a five-month period last year and discovered that female clinicians see fewer people per week than their male counterparts because they devote more time to documenting patient encounters. Female and male clinicians spend the same amount of time filling out patient records per week, but female clinicians see approximately 18% fewer patients, the study found. (Hartnett, 1/27)
Medscape: Doc Accused Of Killing 22 Patients In The ICU
On Dec. 5, 2017, Danny Mollette, age 74, was brought to the emergency department of Mount Carmel West Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, in critical condition. Staff inserted a breathing tube and sent him to the intensive care unit. Mollette, who had diabetes, previously had been hospitalized for treatment of a gangrenous foot. When he arrived in the ICU, he was suffering from acute renal failure and low blood pressure, and had had two heart stoppages, according to a 2020 Ohio Board of Pharmacy report. (Meyer, 1/27)
AP: Medical Center Donates Used Equipment To Student Nursing Lab
Used medical equipment like wheelchairs, vital signs machines and medication carts will find new life in a nursing simulation laboratory at Fairmont State University. Fairmont Medical Center donated those items and others that can no longer be used in clinical settings but will be useful to students who are not in direct patient care. Fairmont Medical Center is a campus of West Virginia University Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital. (1/28)
