Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Lawmaker Scrutinizes Illinois Hospital Over Payroll, Staffing Issues
STLPR: Lawmaker Seeks Answers About Health Of Gateway Regional Medical Center
U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, is asking the owners of a Granite City hospital about issues that she said have kept patients from receiving care. In a letter addressed to the CEO of Gateway Regional Medical Center and the head of Los Angeles-based American Healthcare Systems, the company that owns the hospital, the Illinois lawmaker outlined reports of the hospital’s inability to pay employees, staffing issues and disruptions in care for critically ill patients. (Fentem, 8/25)
In other healthcare industry developments —
The New York Times: Medication Mix-Up Leaves Knee Surgery Patient Paralyzed
On Aug. 14, Glenda Dorton, a retired schoolteacher from central Tennessee, went to a Nashville hospital for routine knee replacement surgery. On Tuesday, now paralyzed from her sternum down, she arrived at a spinal injury rehabilitation clinic in Chicago, where she will receive intensive treatment for approximately six weeks to maximize her physical function. (Hassan, 8/26)
Healthcare Dive: VA Deploys Oracle EHR To 3 Medical Centers In Indiana
The Department of Veterans Affairs deployed the Oracle electronic health record to three VA hospitals in Indiana on Saturday, marking the third round of rollouts this year. The EHR system has now been deployed at 11 hospitals this year, most recently at four medical centers in Ohio and Kentucky in June and four in Michigan in April. The latest rollout in Indiana gets the VA one step closer to its goal of deploying the federal EHR at 13 sites this year. (Hughes, 8/25)
Stat: Sword Health To Acquire Headspace, According To Filing
Sword Health, a digital health company known for its AI-powered virtual physical therapy offering, plans to acquire mental health company Headspace, according to a regulatory filing. (Aguilar, 8/25)
Modern Healthcare: FTC Finalizes Ascension-Amsurg Consent Order
The Federal Trade Commission finalized a consent order as part of Ascension’s $3.9 billion Amsurg acquisition. The order required Ascension to divest seven Amsurg ambulatory surgery centers — six to SC Affiliates in Nashville, Tennessee; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Waco, Texas; and Wichita, Kansas, and one to Florida Gastroenterology Center in Panama City, Florida. (Hudson, 8/25)
Chicago Tribune: Ex-Loretto Hospital CEO Gets Diversion Deal
In the latest consequences of a grand jury scandal at the U.S. attorney’s office, the former CEO of Loretto Hospital entered into a pretrial diversion agreement Tuesday that will see conspiracy charges against him dismissed as long as he stays out of trouble for a year. (Meisner, 8/25)
Also —
KFF Health News: Her Breast MRI Was Approved, But That Didn’t Mean Her Insurance Would Pay
Last year, Stephanie Halver’s primary care doctor consulted a risk assessment tool to calculate her chances of one day developing breast cancer. Halver, now 43, remembered the likelihood “popped up really high.” That’s partly because Halver’s mother and aunt have had breast cancer. Her age and dense breast tissue also put her at higher risk. (Sausser, 8/26)
Stat: Women's Health As A Profit Driver: The ROI Of Understudied Disorders
The flip side of each new discovery about women’s health is a history of research neglect. Now, as federal funding becomes increasingly precarious, some advocates, academics, and executives are appealing to another incentive. It’s called the profit motive. (Cooney, 8/26)
Axios: Americans Spend More Than 2.5 Hours In The ER
Patients now spend an average of more than two and a half hours in hospital emergency departments, and visits have been getting longer in nearly half of the states, new federal data shows. (Goldman, 8/25)
HealthDay: Want A Doc To Respond To Your Portal Message? These Tips Will Improve Your Odds, Study Says
Doctors were more likely to respond to messages that addressed them by name and had a positive tone, researchers reported Aug. 24 in JAMA Network Open. “One of the most important writing-style features was the message’s salutation,” lead researcher Mitchell Tang said in a news release. He is an assistant professor of health policy and management at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. “Simply beginning a message with ‘Dear Dr. Tang’ seemed to make it much more likely that Dr. Tang would end up responding,” he said. (Thompson, 8/25)
