Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Health Tech Roundup: Will New Rules Expanding Telehealth Be Permanent?; Cyberattacks Hack For COVID-19 Data
Stat: Telehealth Rules Have Shifted Rapidly. Are The Changes Here To Stay?
The Trump administration appears to be leaning in favor of permanently expanding telemedicine coverage as health systems dial up the pressure on Washington to preserve access to video visits beyond the pandemic. Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have issued sweeping changes in recent weeks to make telehealth services easier to access as the Covid-19 crisis has made routine care more difficult to deliver. They have also repeatedly cited telemedicine as an example of innovation that is improving care and relieving some of the strain on the health care system. In one recent interview, CMS Administrator Seema Verma all but declared permanent expansion a fait accompli. (Ross, 5/7)
The New York Times: With Red Tape Lifted, Dr. Zoom Will See You Now
In late March, Mary Jane Sturgis got a call from her primary-care physician’s office, saying that her doctor was working from home during the Covid-19 crisis and suggesting an alternative for her scheduled checkup. Would Ms. Sturgis agree to a video appointment on Zoom? “I didn’t know what Zoom was,” Ms. Sturgis recalled. “But I said if I could figure it out, sure.” (Span, 5/8)
Modern Healthcare: Hackers Targeting Healthcare To Steal COVID-19 Info, U.S., U.K. Warn
Sophisticated hackers are targeting healthcare and medical research organizations to gain information about the novel coronavirus, according to U.S. and U.K. cybersecurity agencies. The Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the U.K.'s National Cyber Security Centre in a joint alert issued Tuesday said they have found evidence that "(advanced persistent threat) actors are actively targeting organizations involved in both national and international COVID-19 responses." (Cohen, 5/6)
The Wall Street Journal: Hospitals Deploy Technology To Reduce ICU Staff Exposure To Covid-19
Hospitals are exploring the use of artificial intelligence and robotics technologies to assess patients remotely as they look to protect overworked emergency-room and intensive-care personnel from Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. A shortage of personal protective equipment in the U.S. has likely contributed to medical staff exposure to the virus. A recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found more than 9,000 health-care workers had contracted Covid-19. (Castellanos and McCormick, 5/7)
The Wall Street Journal: The Pandemic Has Made Sudden Heroes Of The Tech Companies—For Now
Technology companies: villains or heroes? Oppressive or empowering? The hazards of technology have vexed consumers even as they’ve enjoyed its warm embrace. But the pandemic has tilted the balance, at least for now. Shelter-in-place orders have, to varying degrees, kept the world inside. These mandatory shut-ins appear to have made us more enamored of the very same tech platforms users very recently loved to hate. (Forman, 5/8)
Crain's Detroit Business: Free COVID-19 App Aims To Help Companies Track Employee Health Checks, Distancing
As some industries return to work Thursday, Red Level Group is launching a free mobile app to help businesses address health screening and location capacity amid the deadly COVID-19 outbreak. The Novi-based IT services and application development company launched its COVID ClearPass app internally earlier this month to safely manage its essential workforce during Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's "Stay Home" order's recommendations for social distancing and health screening at work. (Walsh, 5/7)
