Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Doctors, Nurses Educated During Pandemic Era Prompt Safety Concerns
Modern Healthcare: Inexperienced New Clinicians A Top 2024 Patient Safety Concern
Medical and nursing school graduates' training issues during the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to major safety challenges in 2024, according to nonprofit patient safety organization ECRI. About 400,000 new nurses passed their licensing examination over the course of the pandemic as the industry grappled with a lack of mentors and training programs, according to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. ECRI worries inexperienced, ill-prepared clinicians could contribute to cases of preventable patient harm. (Devereaux, 3/12)
In other health industry news —
Modern Healthcare: State Nursing Home Staffing Mandates Signal Trouble For CMS
Nursing home staffing mandates in three states could be a harbinger of the difficulties ahead for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services when it implements a federal staffing mandate. Illinois, Rhode Island and New York paused penalties for nursing homes that violate state staffing mandates as the governors feared the cost of compliance could force nursing homes to limit patient access or close their doors. Their experiences point to problems CMS could encounter carrying out a federal staffing mandate, but the agency is adamant its final rule will be workable for nursing homes. (Eastabrook, 3/12)
KFF Health News: Concerns Grow Over Quality Of Care As Investor Groups Buy Not-For-Profit Nursing Homes
Shelly Olson’s mother, who has dementia, has lived at the Scandia Village nursing home in rural Sister Bay, Wisconsin, for almost five years. At first, Olson said, her mother received great care at the facility, then owned by a not-for-profit organization, the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society. Then in 2019, Sanford Health — a not-for-profit, tax-exempt hospital system — acquired the nursing home. The covid-19 pandemic struck soon after. From then on, the facility was regularly short of staff, and residents endured long wait times and other care problems, said Olson, a registered nurse who formerly worked at the facility. (Meyer, 3/13)
Boston Globe: Steward Health Care Massachusetts Hospitals Face Fiscal Disaster
Steward Health Care’s Massachusetts hospitals are on the brink of financial disaster. But in many important ways, Steward’s troubles are just a symptom of a larger crisis engulfing the entire industry. (Chesto, 3/12)
Stat: Hospitals Struggle To Validate AI-Generated Clinical Summaries
Rob Bart remembers what it felt like, the moment of discovery. As an intern at Duke University Medical Center in the ’90s, he’d sometimes be tasked with poring through a patient’s medical history to uncover the cause of their latest hospitalization. Back then, the stacks of paper records could tower 18 inches tall. (Palmer and Ross, 3/13)
AP: New AI Tools Can Record Your Medical Appointment Or Draft A Message From Your Doctor
Don’t be surprised if your doctors start writing you overly friendly messages. They could be getting some help from artificial intelligence. New AI tools are helping doctors communicate with their patients, some by answering messages and others by taking notes during exams. It’s been 15 months since OpenAI released ChatGPT. Already thousands of doctors are using similar products based on large language models. One company says its tool works in 14 languages. (Johnson, 3/13)
