Racial, Economic Biases Widespread In Health Care Algorithms

Stat: ‘Nobody Is Catching It’: Algorithms Widely Used In Hospitals Are Rife With Bias
The algorithms carry out an array of crucial tasks: helping emergency rooms nationwide triage patients, predicting who will develop diabetes, and flagging patients who need more help to manage their medical conditions. But instead of making health care delivery more objective and precise, a new report finds, these algorithms — some of which have been in use for many years — are often making it more biased along racial and economic lines. (Ross, 6/21)

Modern Healthcare: Community Health Centers Look For Ways To Capture Revenue
The past decade drove quick and necessary expansion of community health centers fueled largely by billions in grant funding provided through the Affordable Care Act.But the program has also been a constant source of concern for these providers. The Community Health Center Fund, created in 2010, accounts for 70% of federal support. So every year, CHC providers hold their collective breath, waiting to see if Congress will re-authorize the Fund. ... Those concerns have prompted more CHCs to diversify their revenue streams. Larger community health centers like HCP are finding ways to increase their reimbursement from public and commercial insurers. (Ross Johnson, 6/18)

Stat: How A Buddy System Is Helping Health Workers Grapple With Covid's Toll
Sylvia Perry had mainly worked in primary care before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. But as sick patients started flooding into Massachusetts General Hospital clinics, the nurse practitioner was redeployed to help handle the “onslaught.” It was a “high-stress work environment, lots of unpredictability, long hours, and trauma,” said Perry, who, like so many of her colleagues, wanted to feel cared for and connected as she worked through the crisis. “The only way that we can bring our A-game in caring for patients is to feel grounded and feel like we’re taking care of ourselves.” (Lin, 6/21)

AP: 'Protected Them To Death': Elder-Care COVID Rules Under Fire
Pandemic restrictions are falling away almost everywhere — except inside many of America’s nursing homes. Rules designed to protect the nation’s most vulnerable from COVID-19 are still being enforced even though 75% of nursing home residents are now vaccinated and infections and deaths have plummeted. Frustration has set in as families around the country visit their moms and, this Father’s Day weekend, their dads. Hugs and kisses are still discouraged or banned in some nursing homes. Residents are dining in relative isolation and playing bingo and doing crafts at a distance. Visits are limited and must be kept short, and are cut off entirely if someone tests positive for the coronavirus. (Rubinkam, 6/20)

Axios: Health Care Spending Is Picking Up As Coronavirus Cases Fade 
The coronavirus pandemic forced hospitals and patients to delay care — everything from heart procedures and knee replacement surgeries to lab tests and X-rays — but people have been flocking back to their doctors as coronavirus cases wane. A return to normal levels of care means health care spending is back on the rise, which will continue to strain governmental budgets and people's paychecks. (Herman, 6/21)

Gainesville Times: Senate Committee To Examine Spike In Violence Against Health Care Workers During COVID 
Screams are heard from a Northeast Georgia Health System patient room, as the patient pins a nurse against a door and pushes her head into it with his hands. Elsewhere, a patient grabs a member of the staff by the wrist and twists while kicking her in the side of her ribs. These are some of the examples provided by NGHS officials including Kevin Matson, the health system’s vice president of facilities, support services and oncology, regarding the violence against health care workers that has increased in the past year. (Watson, 6/18)

Health News Florida: State Appeals Court Refuses To Halt High-Stakes Hospital Fight 
In a decade-long legal fight that could involve hundreds of millions of dollars, a state appeals court this past week refused to halt a case that argues Sarasota County is required to reimburse private hospitals for providing care to indigent patients. A three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal backed a circuit judge’s decision that denied the county’s request for a summary judgment that could have ended the case. The county argued that it should be shielded by sovereign immunity, which generally is designed to protect government agencies from lawsuits. (Saunders, 6/19)

WLRN 91.3 FM: Proposed Health Rules Scrapped After Hospital Challenges 
After facing nearly a dozen challenges from hospitals across the state, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has withdrawn a series of proposed rules related to regulating highly specialized health care services. The state Agency for Health Care Administration announced last week it planned to employ a rarely used option called “negotiated rulemaking” to try to reach a compromise on one of the withdrawn proposals, a regulation that would set licensure standards for neonatal intensive care units. (Sexton, 6/20)

CBS News: Teachers Were More Stressed Than Everyone Else Working During Pandemic
A much higher percentage of teachers reported frequent job-related stress and symptoms of depression compared to the general adult population, in part because they were navigating unfamiliar technology and struggling to engage students, while also having concerns about returning to in-person instruction amid a pandemic. In January 2021, 78% of teachers said they experienced frequent job-related stress, compared to 40% of employed adults, according to a survey of public school teachers from the Rand Corp. funded by the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. (Cerullo, 6/18)