Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Shkreli Awards' List 'Profiteering' Health Care Outlets
USA Today: 2022 'Shkreli Awards' Rank Worst Health Care 'Profiteering' Cases
The Lown Institute, a health care policy think tank, each year ranks the 10 worst instances of “profiteering and dysfunction” in the health-care industry. It calls its rankings the “Shkreli Awards,” named after the former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli, who rose to notoriety in 2015 when he raised the price of a life-saving medication by roughly 4,000%. Shkreli was nicknamed “Pharma Bro” by the public. He was convicted of securities fraud in 2017, and was released last year. (Mayorquin, 1/14)
Modern Healthcare: NEJM Study: 22.7% Of Hospital Patients Experience Adverse Event
Almost one quarter of hospital patients in the U.S. experience an adverse event such as medication-related harm, a pressure injury or infection during their care, according to a new study. The research, which looked at a random sample of 2,809 admissions from 11 Massachusetts hospitals in 2018, found that out of the adverse events, 22.7% were deemed preventable, and 32.3% were classified as serious, life-threatening, or fatal. The study was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Devereaux, 1/13)
In other health care industry news —
Stat: Hospitals Gear Up To Expand Market Power, Raise Prices In 2023
More than a dozen of the country’s large not-for-profit hospital systems descended on this year’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference with a subtle but clear message for bankers and municipal investors: Higher costs in 2022 slowed them down, but they are adamant about increasing revenue by expanding their footprints and hiking prices. (Herman, 1/17)
Becker's Hospital Review: Health Systems Integrate Automated Medication Instructions Into Epic, Meditech EHRs
Health systems in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are using artificial intelligence to automatically transcribe medical instructions into their Epic and Meditech EHRs. The health systems employing the SmartRenewal software from health IT company DrFirst include Butler (Pa.) Health System and Gainesville-based Northeast Georgia Health System, a company spokesperson told Becker's. (Bruce, 1/13)
Axios: Hospital Obstetrics On Chopping Block As Facilities Pare Costs
Hospitals trying to shed unprofitable business lines are increasingly scaling back or halting maternity services, adding new stresses to the reproductive care landscape. (Dreher, 1/17)
Becker's Hospital Review: After Preliminary Denial, Hospital Where Nurse Called 911 Gains Full Accreditation
Silverdale, Wash.-based St. Michael Medical Center — which gained media attention after a nurse called 911 from its overcrowded, short-staffed emergency department — has been accredited by The Joint Commission after a preliminary denial. (1/13)
Los Angeles Times: Routine-Care Needs Pack MLK Emergency Department
In the emergency department at MLK Community Hospital, masked patients lay in wheeled stretchers lining the hallways. Others slumped in chairs where nurses attended to them. Amid the crush of people on a recent day in December, only the sickest or most severely injured got one of the 29 rooms. (Alpert Reyes, 1/15)
The Washington Post: Why Nurses Are Striking And Quitting In Droves
This flu season, Benny Matthew — a nurse at the Montefiore Medical Center emergency room in the Bronx — has often been responsible for 15 to 20 patients at a time. By 3 p.m. most days, the emergency room is often exploding with patients, Matthew said. Hospital gurneys stand inches apart. When beds run out, patients squeeze into tightly packed chairs. When the chairs run out, patients must stand. Wait times to see a doctor can be up to six hours. At the same time, the hospital is advertising more than 700 nursing positions. (Gurley, 1/14)
