Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Scripps Health Struggles After Hacking Attack; Some Patient Care Impacted
Fierce Healthcare: Cyberattack Forces Scripps Health To Go Offline, Disrupts Patient Care
San Diego-based Scripps Health is struggling to restore its IT systems after a cyberattack May 1 that has significantly disrupted care, impacted email servers and forced medical personnel to use paper records. Some critical care patients were diverted and the online patient portal was taken offline, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Scripps Health operates five hospitals in the San Diego area. (Landi, 5/5)
In other health care industry news —
KHN: Salesforce, Google, Facebook. How Big Tech Undermines California’s Public Health System.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has embraced Silicon Valley tech companies and health care industry titans in response to the covid-19 pandemic like no other governor in America — routinely outsourcing life-or-death public health duties to his allies in the private sector. At least 30 tech and health care companies have received lucrative, no-bid government contracts, or helped fund and carry out critical public health activities during the state’s battle against the coronavirus, a KHN analysis has found. The vast majority are Newsom supporters and donors who have contributed more than $113 million to his political campaigns and charitable causes, or to fund his policy initiatives, since his first run for statewide office in 2010. (Hart, 5/6)
CNBC: Theranos Blood Test Accuracy At Heart Of Elizabeth Holmes Criminal Case
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes promised a technology breakthrough, but it was really a house of cards, prosecutors said during a court hearing on Wednesday. “Miss Holmes went out, told the world and told investors: we have tests with the highest accuracy rate,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Leach said, adding that testimony from their expert witness “puts the lie to that.” (Khorram and Cohn, 5/5)
KHN: Telemedicine Is A Tool — Not A Replacement For Your Doctor’s Touch
Earlier in the pandemic it was vital to see doctors over platforms like Zoom or FaceTime when in-person appointments posed risks of coronavirus exposure. Insurers were forced — often for the first time — to reimburse for all sorts of virtual medical visits and generally at the same price as in-person consultations. By April 2020, one national study found, telemedicine visits already accounted for 13% of all medical claims compared with 0.15% a year earlier. And covid hadn’t seriously hit much of the country yet. By May, Johns Hopkins’ neurology department was conducting 95% of patient visits virtually compared with just 10 such visits weekly the year before, for example. (Rosenthal, 5/6)
Modern Healthcare: Critical-Access Hospitals Struggle With New CMS Star Ratings
Almost half of critical access hospitals' star ratings went down this year, and about two-thirds of all U.S. CAH's didn't even get a star, raising questions about whether CMS' new methodology is a more accurate picture of quality, and if the system is even working for these small hospitals. Take Fulton County Health Center in Ohio, which went from four stars last year to one star this year, and is part of a larger trend. Forty-seven percent of CAHs went down at least one star this year, compared to 22% of acute care hospitals. (Gillespie, 5/5)
Crain's New York Business: 'Safe Staffing' Bills For Hospitals, Nursing Homes Pass New York Legislature
New York State lawmakers on Tuesday passed a pair of bills that would set minimum nurse-to-patient staffing levels at hospitals and nursing homes, pending the governor's signature. One bill requires hospitals to establish committees of health care workers and administrators by Jan. 1 to determine appropriate staffing ratios. Plans would be due by July 1 and available publicly on the state Department of Health's website. Hospitals have to implement them by Jan. 1, 2023. The other requires nursing homes to have enough nurses and aides to provide residents with at least 3.5 hours of care a day, starting Jan. 1. (Kaufman, 5/5)
Modern Healthcare: High Costs, Low-Value Healthcare Linked To Hospital Doctors
Healthcare costs and low-value care tend to increase when hospitals acquire physicians, new studies published in Health Affairs show. The number of diagnostic and lab tests performed in hospitals versus unaffiliated facilities increased after doctors were acquired by hospitals, which inflated healthcare costs, according to an analysis of 30 million imaging procedures and 341 million lab tests billed to Medicare. While more tests could benefit patients, physicians employed by hospitals were more likely to order inappropriate magnetic resonance imaging tests, a companion analysis of the commercial claims associated with 583 primary-care doctors who transitioned from independent practice to hospital employment found. (Kacik, 5/5)
