Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Michael Jordan Donates $10 Million To North Carolina Clinics
USA Today: Michael Jordan Donates $10 Million For New Medical Medical Clinics
Basketball legend Michael Jordan has donated $10 million to help open two new medical clinics in New Hanover County, North Carolina. Jordan's donation to Novant Health will improve access to affordable healthcare in his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina, according to a Novant Health press release. The two new clinics are slated to open in early 2022. The release did not state where the clinics will be located. Jordan previously partnered with Novant Health to open two Michael Jordan Family Clinics in Charlotte. Those clinics offered comprehensive primary care, including behavioral health and social support services, to the area’s most vulnerable communities, according to the release. (Dill, 2/15)
In other health care industry news —
AP: South Carolina Considers Breaking Up Public Health Agency
South Carolina’s public health workers have been tasked with keeping the state safe for 143 years, ever since lawmakers created a health board in 1878 after a yellow fever outbreak killed 20,000 Americans. Now, as the coronavirus pandemic surges, legislators are trying to break their agency apart. As in most states, South Carolina’s public health agency was underfunded and overworked long before it had to sustain an exhausting defense against a virus humans had never seen before. (Liu, 2/15)
Crain's Chicago Business: Pritzker, Local Officials Blast Mercy's Plan To Shutter Without State Approval
A group of elected officials, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker, is condemning Mercy Hospital & Medical Center owner Trinity Health for moving to shutter the South Side facility without approval from the state. “As elected officials and advocates for our communities, we begged Trinity to work with us and our community partners to save Mercy Hospital and to continue to provide much-needed health care to underserved Black, Brown, Asian and white communities on Chicago’s South Side,” according to the statement, signed by 13 elected officials. (Goldberg, 2/12)
Modern Healthcare: Florida Healthy Kids Says Third-Party Breach Exposed Data On 3.5 Million
More than 3 million people who applied or enrolled for coverage from health insurer Florida Healthy Kids Corp. may have had data exposed in a seven-year long breach. The breach, which Florida Healthy Kids said took place at the company that previously hosted its website, affected an estimated 3.5 million people, according to a report that Florida Healthy Kids submitted to HHS' Office for Civil Rights in January. The HHS agency publicly posted the report to its online database of healthcare data breaches in an update Friday. That's a sizeable breach to be reported in the first month of 2021. The largest healthcare data breach reported in all of 2020 compromised data on nearly 1.3 million patients. (Kim Cohen, 2/12)
Also —
Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Pushes More Healthcare CFOs Into Employee Benefits Planning
It takes a village to design employee benefits—or, at least the entire executive team, says OhioHealth Chief Financial Officer Mike Browning. Every year, OhioHealth’s human resources department surveys its 35,000 employees about their health insurance needs. After reviewing responses, HR staff try to match employee needs with plans available in the market. From there, Browning looks over the proposals, taking a strategic eye of what will keep the Columbus, Ohio-based healthcare system competitive. He crunches the numbers to see how employees’ salaries fit in. Of course, in the end, the CEO needs to weigh in on the benefits offered. (Tepper, 2/13)
Modern Healthcare: Hospital Apps Becoming More Patient-Friendly
As smartphones have become tightly intertwined into so many Americans’ lives, hospital executives have realized that to play a central role in their patients’ health, they need to meet them where they are—via their phone. Having an app to engage patients is “table stakes,” said Tom Kiesau, leader of the digital transformation unit at the Chartis Group. But while most health system app strategies historically have centered around the electronic health record’s patient-specific patient portal, a growing number of systems have wanted to offer more customized apps. (Kim Cohen, 2/13)
Stat: Soaring Mental Health Unicorns Race To Meet Employer Needs
Companies scrambling to provide employees with expanded mental health care options are propping up a booming market for digitally minded startups racing to address their needs. Two of the largest, Lyra Health and Modern Health, have both raised a mountain of funding and doubled their customers over the past year. (Aguilar, 2/16)
