Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Mass General Brigham Warned About Its Excessive Spending
Modern Healthcare: Mass General Brigham Must Reduce Spending, Commission Orders
Mass General Brigham's excessive spending jeopardizes the entire state's healthcare system, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission warned Tuesday. The largest health system in the state has spent $293 million in excess of Massachusetts' cost growth benchmark from 2014 to 2019, which was the highest trajectory among Massachusetts providers, HPC's analysis of Center for Health Information data shows. Prices and its payer mix were the main drivers of Mass General Brigham's spending growth, not utilization. (Kacik, 1/25)
Axios: Massachusetts Health Cost Regulator Reprimands Mass General Brigham
Mass General Brigham must submit a plan to lower rising costs that stem from the hospital system's expensive care, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission said today. This commission is viewed as a potential template for other states to regulate rising hospital and physician spending. This is the first time the agency has taken action on a hospital system to temper costs. Mass General Brigham — the dominant, tax-exempt academic hospital organization in Massachusetts with $16 billion of annual revenue — has the highest prices in the state. (Herman, 1/25)
In other corporate news —
Health News Florida: Bayada Home Health Care Laying Off 908 Florida Employees
Bayada Home Health Care will lay off 908 Florida employees, most of whom are in the Tampa Bay area. In a letter to the Florida Department of Economic opportunity, the company announced on Monday that it is closing four offices in the Tampa Bay area, which will result in it laying off 682 employees, effective April 1. The company will lay off 150 employees in its Brandon office, 306 in its Brooksville office, 144 in its New Port Richey office, 79 in its Clearwater office and three who work remotely in Tampa. (Ochoa, 1/25)
Modern Healthcare: Uber Health Names First Chief Medical Officer
Uber's healthcare arm has hired its first chief medical officer, the ride-sharing company announced Tuesday. Dr. Michael Cantor, a geriatrician with more than 20 years of leadership experience in healthcare, previously was chief medical officer at senior-care technology company Intuition Robotics, health insurer Bright Health and home health benefit management company CareCentrix, according to a news release. Cantor has designed clinical programs for older adults and vulnerable populations, according to Uber. At Uber Health, he'll work on applying the company's technology to address gaps in care, integrate it into clinical workflows and bring care to patients at home. (Kim Cohen, 1/25)
And more on the health care industry —
Fox News: Louisiana-Based Ambulance Company Hopes To Offer Solution To EMS Labor Crisis: 'Could Mean Life Or Death'
The national shortage of emergency medical technicians (EMT) and paramedics is crippling ambulance services across the United States, leading to longer wait times for 911 calls – but one major ambulance company hopes to offer a solution to this labor crisis. Acadian Ambulance, one of the nation's largest ambulance services, is no longer waiting for new EMTs to come to it from technical schools. Instead, the company has created its own fast-track course that will get new EMTs on an ambulance in less than two months. "No one has ever seen this," said Justin Cox, the operations manager with Acadian Ambulance. "The amount of people leaving EMS in general is something that is unprecedented." (Castor, 1/25)
Axios: The Gig Economy Is Trying To Solve Health Care's Burnout Crisis
Amid a nationwide nursing shortage and burnout crisis, tech companies say they could be part of the solution by allowing nurses to essentially join the gig economy. Demand is accelerating for tools that help hospitals more efficiently fill shifts, while also offering an exhausted workforce more flexibility. "We're trying to keep these people in the industry," Will Patterson, CEO of CareRev, a health care staffing platform, told Axios. (Reed, 1/25)
North Carolina Health News: Patients Missed Treatment, So Hospital Offered Rides
During radiation treatment for cancer, a massive machine shoots beams of energy directly at the tumor site in a patient’s body. The goal is to destroy the genetic material of the cancer cells, those genes sending garbled signals telling cells to reproduce uncontrollably. All this needs to get done while doing as little damage as possible to healthy neighboring cells. A feat of scientific innovation, radiation treatment can be brutal on a person’s body — causing hair loss, fatigue, nausea, pain and more. It can also wreak havoc on a patient’s schedule. (Donnelly-DeRoven, 1/26)
