Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Concerns Rise Over Health Startups Sharing Patient Data With Big Tech
Stat and The Markup: ‘Out Of Control’: Dozens Of Telehealth Startups Sent Sensitive Health Information To Big Tech Companies
Open the website of Workit Health, and the path to treatment starts with a simple intake form: Are you in danger of harming yourself or others? If not, what’s your current opioid and alcohol use? How much methadone do you use? Within minutes, patients looking for online treatment for opioid use and other addictions can complete the assessment and book a video visit with a provider licensed to prescribe suboxone and other drugs. But what patients probably don’t know is that Workit was sending their delicate, even intimate, answers about drug use and self-harm to Facebook. (Palmer, Feathers and Fondrie-Teitler, 12/13)
In other health care industry news —
AP: Study: Medicaid Providers Mostly Can't Be Reached By Phone
A “secret shopper” accountability study shows that medical patients can’t readily schedule appointments by phone through Medicaid providers in New Mexico, even as the state and federal government spend $8.8 billion annually on the health care program that serves nearly half of state residents. The budget and accountability office of the Legislature presented its findings Tuesday to a panel of lawmakers as evidence of an inadequate network of health care providers. (Lee, 12/14)
Stat: 9 In 10 Health Companies With Financial Stress Are Owned By Private Equity
Almost 90% of the health care companies deemed to be under financial stress by a leading credit rating agency are owned by private equity, a stark indicator of the toll financial investors have taken on a vital sector. (Bannow, 12/14)
Modern Healthcare: Bright Health Eyes Reverse Stock Split To Prevent Delisting
The insurtech received a notice from the New York Stock Exchange Dec. 6 that, because its average stock price has been below $1 for the past 30 days, the company is in danger of being dropped from the exchange if it does not raise its share prices within six months. (Tepper, 12/13)
In news about health personnel —
San Francisco Chronicle: Nurses At Alta Bates Summit Plan To Strike, Sutter Officials Say
“The nurses’ union at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center has called a 9-day strike from December 24 - January 2, its third strike of the year,” according to a Sutter, which released a statement on Tuesday night. Alta Bates Summit has hospitals in Oakland and Berkeley. (Parker, 12/13)
WMFE: AdventHealth Orchestra Made Up Of Doctors And Nurses Who Use Music To Heal
In Central Florida, AdventHealth is known for, well, health care. But the organization is made up of people – individuals who have put everything they have into caring for the community. And now, they say they have a new way to help – and to heal: the AdventHealth Orchestra. (Creston, 12/13)
Reuters: Ex-Employee Of Pharmacy In Deadly 2012 Meningitis Outbreak Gets Prison
A former employee of a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy whose mold-tainted drugs sparked a deadly nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak in 2012 was sentenced on Tuesday to five months in prison for deceiving regulators about its operations before the tragedy. (Raymond, 12/13)
