Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Patient Billed For Asking Mayo Clinic For Clinical Trial Info
Axios: Mayo Clinic Bills Patient For Learning More About A Clinical Study
Interested in participating in a clinical study? Make sure your medical providers don’t bill you for simply learning what’s involved. Clinical trials aren't free for patients, but experts interviewed for this story agreed that a hospital shouldn't charge people just for getting information about them. (Herman, 2/8)
In other health care industry news —
Modern Healthcare: Physician Partners Of America To Pay $3.3 Million To Settle Alleged Non-Compete Violations
Physician Partners of America and its top executives agreed to pay $3.3 million to settle allegations that they violated non-compete contract provisions when the surgery center operators hired physicians from area competitors. Surgery Partners, which operates Tampa Pain Relief Center and Armenia Ambulatory Surgery Center, sued Physician Partners of America after it hired four of its doctors in late 2018 and early 2019. Physician Partners of America and two of its top executives will have to pay its competitors for hiring their former employees while under non-compete contract provisions, a Florida appellate court ruled Friday. (Kacik, 2/7)
Modern Healthcare: Acadia CEO Gets $900,000 To Delay Retirement
Behavioral health provider Acadia Healthcare will pay outgoing CEO Debbie Osteen $900,000 to delay her retirement for two months. Osteen announced her retirement from the 225-location network in October and was set to transition to an advisory role on Jan. 31. She will now stay on as CEO through March 31 "to assist with and ensure a smooth transition of leadership," the company wrote in a submission to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 31. The Nashville Business Journal first reported that she would extend her tenure. (Hartnett, 2/7)
KHN: Federal Investigation Into Spine Surgeries Uses Mob Laws To Target Health Care Fraud
A Texas consulting company that arranges spine surgery and other medical care for people injured in car crashes has come under scrutiny in a widening federal bribery investigation. Meg Health Care, run by Dallas personal injury attorney Manuel Green and his wife, Melissa Green, is the focus of a search warrant recently unsealed by a Massachusetts federal court in an alleged health care fraud prosecution there. The probe is unusual because it uses a little-known law meant to crack down on organized crime racketeering across state lines. (Schulte, 2/8)
Stat: Payers, Turning To Tech To Pinpoint Needy Patients, Risk Leaving Some Behind
Health insurers are leaning more heavily on machine learning to predict which patients will miss out on care because they can’t get a ride to an appointment or reliable internet to sign onto a video visit. But with those new technologies come concerns that lack of standards or checks on their use could propagate biases in health care, leaving some of the neediest patients behind. Technology, payers say, helps them flag at-risk members faster and rapidly connect those in need with community services, staving off costlier long-term complications. Taken in aggregate, these predictions could give payers a window into community-level needs. Predictive models, which vary widely by payer, often draw on claims, public records, census data, and other data sources to flag the members most likely to lack transportation, nutritious food, stable internet, and other factors known as the “social determinants of health.” (Ravindranath, 2/8)
Also —
Cincinnati Enquirer: Mercy Health Event Seeks To Fill 350 Positions
Bon Secours Mercy Health will look to fill 350 positions within its Cincinnati area hospitals at a hiring event later this month. The event comes as hospitals and health systems continue to grapple with labor shortages amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The event will be hosted on a single day, Feb. 19, at seven different locations. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will consist of interviews to fill a wide range of open positions in the area including cooks, imaging, lab, licensed practical nurses, medical assistants, patient access, pharmacy techs, respiratory therapists, registered nurses, care companions, and surgical technologists. (Sutherland, 2/8)
