Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Health Care Workers May Suffer More PTSD, Trauma During Pandemic
Axios: Health Care Workers Experience PTSD, Trauma Heightened By COVID
Front-line health workers, including ICU staffers and nurses, have displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that has been heightened during the pandemic, Reuters reports. The recent uptick in COVID cases in the United States, largely driven by the Delta variant, may further increase the number of health workers experiencing symptoms of the disorder. (Reyes, 9/5)
North Carolina Health News: Rural Hospitals Can't Find Nurses They Need To Fight COVID
On any given day, Mary Ellen Pratt, CEO of St. James Parish Hospital in rural Lutcher, Louisiana, doesn’t know how she’s going to staff the 25-bed hospital she manages. With the continued surge of the COVID-19 delta variant, she’s had to redirect resources. Her small team, including managers, has doubled up on duties, shifts and hours to care for intensive care patients, she said. “We’re having to postpone elective surgeries that require hospitalizations because we can’t take care of those patients in the hospital,” Pratt said. “The staff working in outpatient services have been redeployed to bedside care.” (Wright, 9/5)
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Employment Contracted In August, The Second Decline This Year
For the second time in 2021, healthcare hiring crossed into negative territory, the latest jobs report show. Healthcare employment contracted by an estimated 4,900 jobs in August, preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show. That's after a healthy rebound in July that saw 29,100 new hires. Home health saw the biggest losses last month, as an estimated 11,600 jobs disappeared. These providers have struggled even more than others to recover since employment plummeted early in the COVID-19 pandemic. (Bannow, 9/3)
Bangor Daily News: Bangor Psychologist Suing Northern Light Over Unequal Pay Asks For More Than $200,000
The Bangor School Committee member who sued Northern Light Health over unequal pay at its Acadia Hospital is asking a judge to award her more than $200,000 now that the hospital has admitted it paid female psychologists less than men doing the same job. Attorneys for Clare E. Mundell, who now is self-employed, filed a motion Wednesday for summary judgment in her pending lawsuit against the hospital system in U.S. District Court in Bangor. Mundell, 58, who was elected to the Bangor School Committee in November, began working at Acadia Hospital in November 2017 as a pool psychologist for $50 per hour. About two years later, she learned that her two male psychologist colleagues were making $90 and $95 per hour. (Harrison, 9/3)
Modern Healthcare: UnitedHealthcare Pays Providers Below Standard Rates For COVID-19 Vaccines
Pediatricians across the country are claiming the nation's largest insurer is shortchanging them for administering COVID-19 vaccines, jeopardizing access to the main tool for stopping the virus' spread. The American Academy of Pediatrics has fielded complaints from providers nationwide who are frustrated that UnitedHealth Group is paying about 50% of the federal rate for vaccine administration, said Dr. Sue Kressly, who chairs the AAP's payment advocacy advisory committee and runs Pennsylvania-based Kressly Pediatrics. While UnitedHealthcare is not legally required to pay the federal rate, Kressly said the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based insurer is the only national carrier that has not agreed to pay at least $40 for vaccine administration. (Tepper, 9/3)
Modern Healthcare: Feds Sue UPMC And Its Leading Surgeon Under The False Claims Act
A senior University of Pittsburgh Medical Center surgeon allegedly billed the government for unnecessary surgeries and operations he didn't perform and directly harmed patients, according to a federal false claims lawsuit filed Thursday. The Justice Department brought the suit against UPMC, University of Pittsburgh Physicians and Dr. James Luketich, a top surgeon at UPMC Presbyterian-Shadyside. Luketich earned $2.4 million at UPMC in fiscal 2019, making him among the company's highest paid employees. (Devereaux, 9/3)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Harvard Club Honors 5 Health System CEOS For Pandemic Prep, Response
Developing protocols for emergency departments, setting up COVID-19 units, finding personal protective equipment, moving to remote work for administrative staff, expanding intensive care units, shifting clinics to telehealth, redeploying and training staff, setting up testing sites — health systems’ checklists were long and complicated as they prepared for the pandemic last year. No one knew what to expect. “Everyone,” said Chris Woleske, CEO of Bellin Health Systems, “was facing the same uncertainty.” (Boulton, 9/2)
In other health care industry news —
Modern Healthcare: CMS Should Collect Home Health Telehealth Data, Experts Say
The Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services should collect data about telehealth use in home health to guide policymakers in setting reimbursement rates for providers, experts said during the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's September meeting on Friday. CMS adjusted how the Medicare program pays providers under the home health prospective payment system in 2020 after Congress mandated changes to those payments in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. Under the Patient-Driven Groupings Model, CMS moved from a 60- to 30-day payment unit and stopped basing payments on the number of therapy visits to curb their use. (Brady, 9/3)
PolitiFact: Fact Check: The Average Cost Of A COVID-19 Hospital Stay
The claim: “The average hospital stay for a case of COVID-19 costs about $17,064. The vaccine is free.” — U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. PolitiFact rating: Mostly true. It’s difficult to determine an average cost for a hospital stay for COVID-19. Many individual factors can cause estimates to swing widely. But Jayapal’s figure is in line with several credible estimates, and to her bigger point, the vaccine is much cheaper. (Valverde, 9/6)
