Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Industry Presses Congress To Fix Doctor Shortage With Foreign Staff
Becker's Hospital Review: Medical Groups Urge Congress To Reauthorize Program To Improve Physician Workforce Shortage
In letters to the House and Senate, medical groups urged Congress to pass the Conrad State 30 and Physician Access Reauthorization Act, which incentivizes foreign physicians to serve in underserved communities. The bill would extend the Conrad 30 waiver program, which allows these international medical graduates to remain in the United States. (Schoonover, 8/2)
The Star Tribune: Twin Cities Area Nurses Warn Of Burnout: 'Pushed To The Limit'
Nurses in stalled contract talks sought to increase public pressure on Twin Cities area hospitals Tuesday, warning that burned-out colleagues are poised to leave bedside care if they don't get incentives to stay. Negotiations have produced little progress on wages and how to compensate nurses after two-plus years of the pandemic. Nurses, working under prior contracts that expired two months ago, accused the hospitals of exploiting their good will to work last-minute shifts and take extra patients to get through the pandemic's peaks. (Olson, 8/2)
In other health care industry news —
Becker's Hospital Review: Kaiser Permanente, Geisinger Among 37 Organizations Affected By Vendor Ransomware Attack
Dozens of healthcare providers and health plans were affected by a data breach involving printing and mailing vendor OneTouchPoint. On April 28, OneTouchPoint discovered encrypted files on some of its computer systems, it said in a July 27 notice on its website. With the help of third-party forensic specialists, an investigation determined an unauthorized party had accessed the vendor's servers the day before. (Bruce, 8/2)
Becker's Hospital Review: New HHS Tool Helps Hospitals Estimate Supply Levels In Emergencies
The HHS launched a service July 29 for hospitals to track the availability of medications, personal protective equipment, products used for burn patients and supplies for trauma patients. The tool, called the Disaster Available Supplies in Hospitals, is designed to estimate how much medical supply a hospital needs within 49 hours of a "mass casualty incident" or an infectious disease emergency, according to its website. It isn't intended to be used for disasters. (Twenter, 8/2)
North Carolina Health News: Mergers Can’t Always Save Rural Hospitals
When an independently owned rural hospital is in financial crisis, hospital leaders often say they’d be able to survive if only a big hospital system would come in and buy them. It would give them an infusion of capital, help with technological upgrades, and increase their patient population and ability to negotiate better reimbursement rates with insurers. And sometimes when a rural hospital is already owned by a larger system and begins to struggle, its hospital administrators will point to the facility’s affiliation as its safety net. They’ll say that while their hospital’s specific numbers might look bad, what we can’t see are all of the resources it has access to through this larger system — resources that will ensure its survival. (Donnelly-DeRoven, 8/3)
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Is Dirty. Hospitals Are Doing Something About It
The U.S. healthcare system emits the same amount of greenhouse gases every year as 100 coal-fired power plants. That’s according to Gary Cohen, founder and president of Practice Greenhealth and Health Care Without Harm. Cohen said two culprits account for nearly 80% of the healthcare industry’s carbon emissions: the supply chain and nonrenewable energy investments. The supply chain in particular—which includes anything from medical devices to food—is a pain point for all hospitals, because they cannot function without a reliable pipeline. (Abrams, 8/2)
KHN: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: Her Bill For A Prenatal Test Felt Like A ‘Bait-And-Switch’ Scheme
Can a health care company make enough people mad about its billing practices that its business is hurt? For one genetic testing company, maybe. An “Arm and a Leg” listener got a test that has become routine in early pregnancy: noninvasive prenatal testing. It was supposed to be $99. But then — after she took the test — that turned into $250. And when she asked questions, she was told it could go up to $800 if she didn’t pay up quickly. The patient looked up the testing company and found that lots of people had experienced what she called “the genetic testing bait-and-switch.” (Weissmann, 8/3)
