Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Citing 'Perverse Incentives,' Harvard Medical School Exits U.S. News Ranking
The Boston Globe: Harvard Medical School Withdraws From U.S. News & World Report Rankings
Harvard Medical School will no longer submit data to U.S. News & World Report to be used in the “best medical schools” survey and rankings, the school said Tuesday. In a letter announcing the medical school would withdraw from the survey, George Q. Daley, dean of the Faculty of Medicine, said rankings “cannot meaningfully reflect the high aspirations for educational excellence, graduate preparedness, and compassionate and equitable patient care that we strive to foster in our medical education programs.”(Mogg, 1/17)
The Washington Post: Harvard Medical School Withdraws From U.S. News Rankings
Harvard Medical School is ranked No. 1 in the country for research by U.S. News. ... Among several highly ranked medical schools The Washington Post contacted Tuesday, none revealed immediate plans to follow the lead of their counterparts at Harvard. Some declined to take a position. Johns Hopkins University’s medical school is still sending information to U.S. News, a spokesperson for Johns Hopkins Medicine said, “but, as we do each year, we will consider our future participation.” (Svrluga and Anderson, 1/17)
In hospital news —
The Boston Globe: Workers At Brigham And Women’s Faulkner Hospital Stage A Walkout
Workers at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain staged a walkout Tuesday to demand higher wages and job security amid a union contract negotiation that has lasted six months. Those who participated are among the lowest-wage employees at the hospital, including personal care attendants, service techs, dietary workers, housekeepers, mental health workers, and administrative staff — many make as little as $15.45 an hour. (1/17)
Modern Healthcare: AAMC/HRSA Data Shows Primary-Care, Mental Health Physician Shortage
The supply-demand mismatch is, in part, due to a wide variation in pay. The average starting salaries for primary-care physicians and psychiatrists last year were about half the average starting salaries for orthopedic surgeons and interventional cardiologists, according to data from physician search firm Merritt Hawkins. (Kacik, 1/17)
St. Louis Public Radio: St. Louis Children’s Hospital Sees Increase In Gun Injuries
More children and teens in St. Louis are being treated at Children’s Hospital for gun injuries since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study by Washington University and the University of Missouri. Using emergency room data from between 2015 and 2022, researchers found the average number of people 19 and under treated for gunshot wounds in hospital's emergency department rose by more than 50 percent in the first two years of the pandemic. They found the additional injuries were driven in part by an increase in assaults and homicides. (Fentem, 1/18)
AP: Prosecutor: Paramedics Killed Man By Strapping Him Facedown
Two Illinois paramedics face first-degree murder charges, having been accused of strapping a patient facedown on a stretcher while taking him to a hospital last month. Illinois authorities filed the charges against Peggy Finley and Peter Cadigan on Jan. 9, nearly a month after 35-year-old Earl Moore died. Under Illinois law, a first-degree murder charge can be filed when a defendant “knows that such acts create a strong probability of death or great bodily harm.” (Foody, 1/17)
In other health care industry news —
Axios: AI Could Someday Make Medical Decisions Instead Of Your Doctor
ChatGPT, the generative AI juggernaut, is getting a lot smarter when it comes to health care. A lot of clinical diagnoses and decisions could someday be made by machines, rather than by human doctors. ChatGPT recently passed all three parts of the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination, although just barely, as part of a recent research experiment. (Primack, 1/18)
NPR: A Guide To 9 Global Buzzwords For 2023, From 'Polycrisis' To 'Zero-Dose Children'
We're having a polycrisis. The pandemic has resulted in too many zero-dose children. Charities are not always succeeding in tarmac-to-arm. These are a few of the global buzzwords you're probably going to be hearing as 2023 kicks off. Sometimes buzzwords are easy to understand. It's not that hard to figure out that a polycrisis is worse than a monocrisis. (Connelly, 1/17)
KHN: The Biggest, Buzziest Conference For Health Care Investors Convenes Amid Fears The Bubble Will Burst
Health care’s business class returned to its San Francisco sanctuary last week for JPMorgan’s annual health care confab, at the gilded Westin St. Francis hotel on Union Square. After a two-year pandemic pause, the mood among the executives, bankers, and startup founders in attendance had the aura of a reunion — as they gossiped about promotions, work-from-home routines, who’s getting what investments. Dressed in their capitalist best — ranging from brilliant-blue or pastel-purple blazers to puffy-coat chic — they thronged to big parties, housed in art galleries or restaurants. But the party was tinged with new anxiety: Would the big money invested in health care due to covid-19 continue to flow? Would investors ask to see results — meaning profits — rather than just cool ideas? (Tahir, 1/17)
