Industry Groups Push For Extensions To Pandemic Telehealth Provision

Modern Healthcare: Alliance For Connected Care Telehealth Letter To Governors
More than 230 organizations want state governors to preserve and expand state medical licensure flexibilities for telehealth until the public health emergency ends, according to a letter led by the Alliance for Connected Care, ALS Association and National Organization for Rare Disorders. Nearly 30 states have allowed their emergency declarations to lapse in recent months, according to the Alliance. That’s led many people to suddenly lose access to telehealth services delivered by out-of-state providers as exceptions to state medical licensing rules expired alongside the emergency declarations. (Brady, 11/1)

In other health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Why The Change In Hospital Margins Dropped By Double Digits In September
U.S. hospitals saw a median operating margin decline of 18.2% between August and September, a new report found. A confluence of lower volumes and rising expenses made September a difficult month for hospitals, according to healthcare consultancy Kaufman Hall, which reports monthly on the finances of more than 900 mostly not-for-profit hospitals. "It's almost a perfect storm," said Erik Swanson, Kaufman Hall's senior vice president and the report's author. (Bannow, 11/1)

Axios: The Future Of Hospitals Will Be Outside Of Hospitals 
Hospitals in the future will look far more tech-enabled and consumer-focused — when patients are actually even getting care in a hospital building itself. Hospitals were already pushing more care outside their four walls before the pandemic. COVID accelerated that shift, forcing hospitals to reimagine what's possible to deliver in patients' homes, experts say. (Reed, 11/2)

KHN: Labs With No One To Run Them: Why Public Health Workers Are Fleeing The Field 
There were days, nights and weekends in the early months of the pandemic when Denise Von Bargen was the only person running covid tests at the public health lab in Ventura County. She once had eight or nine employees to assist her, but, one by one, they had all retired or left for other jobs. Like other public health laboratories in California charged with broad-scale disease testing and surveillance, the Ventura lab received federal and state money for new equipment and short-term hires to bolster its response to covid-19. But the funding was temporary, and Von Bargen, the director, could not use it to increase the salaries of her employees, who could earn more money doing less work in the private sector. (Barry-Jester, 11/2)

Connecticut Health I-Team: Ranking Of Connecticut Medical Board’s ‘Serious Disciplinary Actions’ Echoes Members’ Concerns
The state Medical Examining Board ranked 37th in the nation in the annual rate of serious disciplinary actions the board took against physicians accused of wrongdoing from 2017 to 2019, according to a Public Citizen report issued earlier this year. Connecticut’s board averaged about 13 serious disciplinary actions a year in 2017, 2018 and 2019, according to Public Citizen. The rankings are based on the number of serious disciplinary actions taken by states per 1,000 physicians. Connecticut’s rate was .65 per 1,000 physicians compared to Kentucky, which had the highest rate of serious disciplinary actions at 2.29 per 1,000 physicians, the report said. Public Citizen defines a “serious disciplinary action” as one that has a clear impact on a physician’s ability to practice. (Backus, 11/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: Transgender Man's Suit Against Dignity Health For Surgery Refusal Allowed To Go Forward
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed a Northern California transgender man to sue a Catholic hospital chain for refusing to perform surgery on him. The justices voted 6-3 to deny review of an appeal by Dignity Health of a discrimination suit by Evan Minton. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch voted to hear the case, one short of the number needed to grant review. Minton, who lives in Sacramento County, was born female and said he had “rejected” himself for 29 years before starting to transition in 2011. Five years later, his surgeon arranged a hysterectomy at Dignity’s Mercy San Juan Medical Center in the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael. (Egelko, 11/1)

Also —

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia-Based Kaiser Permanente Workers Vote To Authorize Strike
Health care workers from Kaiser Permanente’s Georgia locations voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike as unions continued to butt heads with management over pay and other benefits. Some 96% of nurses, pharmacists and other health care and technical staff who are members of the Suwanee-based United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1996 voted over the last week to authorize the work stoppage, the union announced Monday. The strike authorization does not mean Georgia workers will walk off the job — at least not yet. The union is required to give Kaiser 10 days notice before a work stoppage, though officials can call for a strike at any point during the bargaining process. (Hallerman, 11/1)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: 'We Are Burnt Out And Do Not Feel Valued Or Supported': Frustrated Nurses At VCU Health Threatened A Walk Out. It Never Happened. 
After they were notified their bonuses would be smaller this year, nurses at Virginia Commonwealth University Health, one of the region’s largest employers, threatened to walk out last week. But the move never materialized. Frustrated with a pandemic that has stretched nearly two years and hospital staffs that are suddenly depleted, medical workers across the country feel bleary. That frustration was compounded last month when VCU Health employees were told their bonuses would be smaller this year. “There’s a high level of frustration, and all hospitals in the country are short-handed,” said Dr. Art Kellermann, CEO of VCU Health, in an interview. (Kolenich, 11/1)