Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Health Care Leaders Beg For Anti-Gun Violence Funding
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Leaders Urge Congress To Fund Anti-Gun Violence Programs
Leaders from more than a dozen large health systems are calling on Congressional leaders to support President Joe Biden's proposed $5 billion investment into community-based violence prevention programs. In a letter sent to leaders of both parties in the House and Senate on Wednesday, CEOs of the 18 systems along with more than 1,300 healthcare professionals urged lawmakers to keep the inclusion of the violence prevention provision within Biden's $2 trillion jobs and infrastructure plan. (Ross Johnson, 7/21)
Also —
CIDRAP: Study Ties Superbug Prevalence In The ED To Ambulance Rides
A study by Duke University scientists today reveals that patients arriving at their emergency department (ED) via ambulance were almost four times more likely to have methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) colonization or infection than those who didn't arrive by ambulance, though numbers of both were small. The single-center retrospective cohort study, published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, involved 11,324 patients from 2016 to 2019. About one third (3,903) were in the ambulance group, with the remainder in the unexposed group. (7/21)
North Carolina Health News: Blue Cross NC Expands Coverage For Trans Surgeries
After what LGBTQ advocates say was a record-breaking year for anti-transgender legislation, they are celebrating a small victory in North Carolina. Blue Cross NC, formerly known as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, will now include coverage for gender-affirming facial surgery and voice therapy for transgender and gender-nonconforming people as medically necessary care. The move follows advocacy from the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF), on behalf of Equality NC, the LGBTQ Center of Durham and two transgender women. (Thompson, 7/22)
KQED: California Court Rules Nursing Home Employees Can Deadname Transgender Seniors
LGBTQ rights advocates said Monday that they will seek to challenge an appeals court decision tossing out part of a California law designed to protect older LGBTQ residents in nursing homes. The 2017 law is intended to protect against discrimination or mistreatment based on residents' sexual orientation or gender identity. The Third District Court of Appeal overturned the part of the law barring employees of long-term care facilities from willfully and repeatedly using anything other than residents' preferred names and pronouns. In other words, it was illegal for employees to intentionally misgender trans residents by using the names and pronouns they were assigned at birth, a practice known as deadnaming. The ban on deadnaming violates employees' rights to free speech, the court ruled Friday. (7/20)
Fox News: Two Paramedics Suspended After Grandmother Alleges They Falsely Pronounced Teen's Death
Two Houston paramedics have been suspended for seven days following an investigation involving the resuscitation of a teenage boy that failed to meet "standards and expectations," authorities confirmed to Fox News. Stacy Williams dialed 911 on Jan. 26 in search of a catheter for her 14-year-old grandson Jacah, a survivor of shaken baby syndrome, who had been administered two doses of trazodone and was asleep for an extended time, as expected. Williams grew concerned after Jacah didn’t urinate all day. The boy’s lips were turning white and when Williams pressed on his nails, the color wasn’t returning, she told Fox News. She wasn’t alarmed because the child’s body temperature and heart rate typically run low. (Rivas, 7/21)
In corporate news —
Becker's Hospital Review: Oregon Health District Ousts Hospital CEO
The Southern Coos Health District Board has fired Eugene Suksi, CEO of Bandon, Ore.-based Southern Coos Hospital and Health Center. During a special meeting July 14 after an executive session, the board exercised the termination clause of Mr. Suksi's contract without cause, saying it had "lost confidence in his ability to effectively lead the hospital," according to a news release shared with Becker's July 20. (Gooch, 7/20)
Modern Healthcare: UPMC Agrees To Pay $2.7M To Settle 2014 Data Breach Lawsuit
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has agreed to pay up to $2.65 million to settle a proposed class-action related to a 2014 data breach, according to a preliminary approval motion filed last week and shared with Modern Healthcare. The settlement would end a lawsuit UPMC employees filed in a Pennsylvania state court in 2014, seeking to represent the workers who were employed by UPMC whose information was potentially compromised in the 2014 data breach, in which a hacker gained access to personal data on an estimated 66,000 current and former UPMC employees. (Kim Cohen, 7/21)
Los Angeles Times: Former San Diego Hospital Worker Accused Of Stealing Patient Data For Unemployment Claims
A former employee of Scripps Health in San Diego is accused of stealing the personal information of dozens of patients as part of a scheme to file fraudulent pandemic-related unemployment claims in their names, according to a federal complaint. Matthew Lombardo is one of seven people charged in two separate investigations surrounding the use of stolen identities to file for pandemic employment assistance under the CARES Act, the U.S. attorney’s office said Wednesday. (Davis, 7/21)
Becker's Hospital Review: Virginia Mason Franciscan Health To Pay $5.5M Settlement In Nurse Class-Action Suit
A Washington healthcare system will pay $5.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in which thousands of nurses claim they weren't properly paid for lunch and other breaks, reports The Kitsap Sun. Virginia Mason Franciscan Health — the byproduct of an official merger between Tacoma, Wash.-based CHI Franciscan and Seattle-based Virginia Mason — was accused of violating the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and Washington state law. The case, brought by Hana Etcheverry, RN, a nurse at the former Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton, Wash., alleged nurses who worked shifts of 12 hours or more, "experience significant amounts of pre- and post-shift off-the-clock work, including unpaid, on-duty time preparing for their days before clocking in as well as completing charting and patient paperwork after clocking out." (Masson, 7/20)
Stat: Happify To Launch Prescription App For Depression Under Loosened FDA Rules
Leveraging Food and Drug Administration regulations loosened during the pandemic, Happify Health, which is best known for its consumer wellness app, will launch new prescription-only software to treat depression. Happify, founded in 2012, recently announced it had raised $73 million to bolster its efforts in digital therapeutics, a space that is rapidly growing as well-funded companies make the case to regulators, insurers, and clinicians that software can be used to treat disease. (Aguilar, 7/22)
Stat: Therapy Chatbot Startup Woebot Raises $90 Million
Woebot announced Wednesday that it raised a $90 million Series B investment to further the development of chatbots to treat a range of mental health conditions. The new funding, led by JAZZ Venture Partners and Temasek, comes as the 4-year-old company hopes to turn its bevy of research projects into products commonly used by patients. If it’s successful, its bots could help alleviate pressure on the strained mental health system that can’t reach everyone who needs help. (Aguilar, 7/21)
