Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Focus Falls On Doctor, Health Staff Shortages Amid Problem Wait Times
The Boston Globe: Why You Can’t Get In To See Your Primary Care Doctor. ‘It’s Almost Frightening.’
Across Massachusetts, people have been struggling to make appointments with primary care physicians, with doctors saying demand is higher than ever at a time when an increasing number of providers are leaving the field. The problems are further straining the state’s health care system, potentially leaving patients sicker and in need of more intensive care down the road. (Bartlett, 2/5)
Wyoming Public Radio: Physician Recruitment And Retainment Is Already A Problem In The State But Some Bills Could Make That Even Worse
Doctors have always been hard to find and keep in a rural state like Wyoming. So the state created incentives like WWAMI (which stands for the states served by the UW School of Medicine: Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) to try to get Wyomingites to come back and practice in their home state after medical school. The program has been successful but recent bills going through the legislature are causing some of those in the program to decide not to come back and help fill the physician gap. (Kudelska, 2/3)
Modern Healthcare: Jobs Report: Healthcare Jobs Trends In 4 Charts
With hiring levels consistently on the rise, the outlook for employment in healthcare is brighter than some other industries. Some sectors of the industry, however, continue to be plagued by staffing shortages and trouble with recruitment. Since the pandemic hit, most areas in healthcare have averaged hiring growth annually, outweighing minor fluctuations month-to-month and surpassing pre-pandemic levels. (Devereaux and Broderick, 2/3)
Stat: After 'Losing My Life' Giving Care, A Writer Looks At The Caregiver Crisis
Laura Mauldin was immersed in Deaf culture from childhood — but she’s not deaf. She went to a school that happened to educate many deaf children, and so she grew up learning American Sign Language. That early experience was formative, and set her on a path to become a professor and writer in the field of disability studies. (Cueto, 2/6)
In other news about health care workers —
Bloomberg: Record UK Health Strike Piles Pressure On Stretched Service
Health care workers are walking out in record numbers this week, crippling the National Health Service and piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to resolve multiple disputes over pay for public-sector workers. (Pham and Akil Farhat, 2/6)
Stat: Why Did EMS Workers Fail Tyre Nichols?
By the time medics arrived, Tyre Nichols was sitting on the ground, handcuffed and propped against a police car. The 29-year-old’s face was bloody and he was groaning in pain. On Jan. 7, after pulling Nichols over for a traffic stop, Memphis police officers had tased him, pepper-sprayed him, punched him, kicked him in the head, and beaten him with a baton. He weighed about 150 pounds, according to his mother, and suffered from Crohn’s disease. Other than helping Nichols back up when he slumped over, the emergency medical technicians who’d arrived on the scene barely engaged with him, according to police body camera footage of the incident. (Renault, 2/6)
NBC News: Trans Physician Uses Life Savings To Keep Clinic Open After Insurers Deny Reimbursements
Tiffany Najberg, a Louisiana doctor who is transgender, said three insurance companies refused to reimburse her since she legally changed her name nearly two years ago. (Yurcaba, 2/3)
In obituaries —
The Washington Post: Dennis O'Leary, Doctor Who Briefed Media After Reagan Shooting, Dies At 85
Dennis O’Leary, a Washington hospital administrator who was thrust into the world spotlight in 1981 as the spokesman for medical teams treating President Ronald Reagan after he was shot by would-be assassin John W. Hinckley Jr., died Jan. 29 at a hospice center in Kansas City. He was 85. The cause was complications from Parkinson’s disease, his wife, Margaret, said. ... Over nearly two weeks, Dr. O’Leary was the public face of the world’s biggest news event. (Murphy, 2/2)
