Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Mental Health Provider Fined $7.8M For Sharing Data With Advertisers
Modern Healthcare: BetterHelp Shared Consumer Health Info With Facebook, Snapchat
The Federal Trade Commission has fined digital mental healthcare provider BetterHelp $7.8 million for sharing the personal health information of millions of consumers with advertisers like Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo and Pinterest during a seven-year period. (Turner, 3/2)
In other health care industry news —
Philadelphia Inquirer: St. Luke's Upper Bucks Hospital Expansion Includes Birth Center Amid Shrinking Maternity Options
St. Luke’s University Health Network has doubled the size of its Upper Bucks campus with a $79 million, three-story addition that expands access to obstetrics, a service that has been shrinking in the Philadelphia region. (Gantz, 3/2)
Philadelphia Inquirer: Nemours Children's Hospital Delaware Expands Sickle Cell Disease, Cancer Treatment And Research With $78 Million Donation
A $78 million gift to Nemours Children’s Health will expand the health system’s research and clinical care for children with cancer and blood disorders, the Delaware health system said Thursday. The donation from the Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation of Wilmington will pay for 48 new inpatient beds, including isolation areas for immunocompromised patients, a meditation room, and additional treatment space. (Laughlin, 3/2)
Modern Healthcare: Presbyterian Healthcare Services, UnityPoint Health To Merge
Presbyterian Healthcare Services and UnityPoint Health announced plans Thursday to merge, creating an organization with roughly $11 billion in annual revenue. The combined nonprofit organization would have 48 hospitals, a health insurance plan offered through Presbyterian and 40,000 employees. (Kacik, 3/2)
KHN: Shaved Costs, High Risk, Maximum Profits: Regulators Worry About Florida’s Butt Lift Boom
In hindsight, Nikki Ruston said, she should have recognized the red flags. The office in Miami where she scheduled what’s known as a Brazilian butt lift had closed and transferred her records to a different facility, she said. The price she was quoted — and paid upfront — increased the day of the procedure, and she said she did not meet her surgeon until she was about to be placed under general anesthesia. “I was ready to walk out,” said Ruston, 44, of Lake Alfred in Central Florida. “But I had paid everything.” (Chang, 3/3)
Also —
AP: Documents Detail EMTs' Failure To Aid Tyre Nichols
Two Memphis Fire Department emergency medical technicians who were fired and had their licenses suspended for failing to give aid to Tyre Nichols for 19 minutes while he struggled with injuries from being brutally beaten by police, did not check his vital signs or perform other basic medical examinations, documents released Thursday showed. (Sainz, 3/2)
