Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Nearly A Year After Cyberattack, Ascension Hasn't Fully Rebounded
Modern Healthcare: Ascension Data Breach Still Impacting Operations, Patient Volume
Ascension is still grappling with the operational fallout from last year's cyberattack impacting millions of patients. After discovering the attack in May, Ascension took several weeks to restore its main systems, and clinicians pivoted to paper records and fax machines. Since then, nonprofit Ascension has worked to recover lost revenue and patient volumes negatively impacted by the incident. (Hudson, 2/18)
Modern Healthcare: FTC Hit With Premerger Notification Filings Ahead Of New Form
Companies flooded the Federal Trade Commission with premerger notification filings the week before new requirements went into effect. FTC’s Premerger Notification Office during the week ended Feb. 7 received nearly 400 filings that accounted for about 200 transactions, Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a Monday staff memo. The filings represented an estimated fourfold increase from historical weekly averages. FTC staff should evaluate those filings using the 2023 merger guidelines, which the agency plans to retain, Ferguson said. (Kacik, 2/18)
Modern Healthcare: MultiPlan Changes Name To Claritev Amid Antitrust Lawsuits
Healthcare analytics company MultiPlan has rebranded and changed its name to Claritev. The company, which spent much of the past year navigating rising debt and antitrust lawsuits, said Tuesday the rebrand will have no affect on its existing services. It also plans to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CTEV on Feb. 28. (DeSilva, 2/18)
Modern Healthcare: CVS Caremark Names Ed DeVaney As President
CVS Health has named Ed DeVaney president of its pharmacy benefit manager CVS Caremark. DeVaney has served as interim president of CVS Health's PBM unit since December and has worked with the company for two decades. He was responsible for growing and retaining CVS Caremark’s business as president of employer and health plans before taking the role of interim president, the company said in a news release Monday. (Berryman, 2/18)
Also —
Becker's Hospital Review: AI Helps Cleveland Clinic Uncover New Uses For Existing Drugs
Cleveland Clinic researchers are using artificial intelligence to identify existing FDA-approved drugs that may be repurposed to treat other complex diseases. The effort is led by Feixiong Cheng, PhD, director of the Genome Center at Cleveland Clinic. Through advanced computer-based systems and analytical tools, Dr. Cheng and his research team analyze databases of human gene sequences and molecular targets to uncover potential new uses for established medications. The most promising AI-predicted repurposable drugs are then tested using large-scale data. (Diaz, 2/18)
MedPage Today: Screening Tool Identified Abuse Risk In Kids With Just One Bruise
A screening tool was effective in identifying abuse among young children with a single bruise in a pediatric emergency department, a secondary analysis of a validation study showed. Of 349 kids with a single bruise, the TEN-4-FACESp bruising clinical decision rule (BCDR) was positive for 22 of 27 cases classified as abuse and 40 of 322 classified as an accident, thus performing with 81.5% sensitivity and 87.6% specificity, reported Mary Clyde Pierce, MD, of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, and colleagues in Pediatrics. (Henderson, 2/18)
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