Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Staff Shortages Lead To Difficulties In Discharging Patients
Axios: Hospitals Are Struggling To Discharge Patients Due To Staffing Shortages
Health worker shortages are keeping hospitals from discharging patients for post-acute care and prompting pleas to Congress for per diem Medicare payments to cover the longer stays. (Dreher, 11/16)
More on labor shortages and equipment delays —
The Washington Post: Children's Hospital Doctors Rally Over Working Conditions Amid RSV
Dozens of [hospital] residents and their supporters rallied Tuesday evening outside Children’s National Hospital in Northwest D.C. ... as union negotiations continue with the Top 5 children’s hospital. Residents stood under makeshift tents in the driving rain across from the hospital as ambulances screamed by, carrying signs that read, “I’m tired,” “Children deserve healthy doctors” and “Fair contract = physician wellness,” highlighting the challenges providers face as respiratory illnesses stress the health-care system. (Portnoy, 11/15)
Modern Healthcare: CommonSpirit Reports $400M Loss Due To Labor Shortage, Inflation
The Chicago-based health system on Tuesday reported a net loss of $397 million for its fiscal year 2023 first quarter, compared with a $269 million gain a year ago. Operating revenue came to $9.01 billion in the quarter, a 5.4% year-over-year increase. (Hudson, 11/15)
The Colorado Sun: Colorado Paramedics Endure Delays In Ambulance Deliveries
Chris Marsh typically orders two new ambulances every year for Eagle County Paramedic Services. That keeps a steady flow of the crucial vehicles rolling into his stable of 14 ambulances that provide 24-hour service out of five stations in Eagle County from Vail to Gypsum. But no new ambulances were delivered this year. And it’s not likely any will come next year. (Blevins, 11/16)
In other health care industry news —
Modern Healthcare: Leapfrog Reports Hospitals Safety Improved Before COVID-19
Data from before the COVID-19 pandemic show promising improvements in hospital-acquired infection rates. Central line-associated bloodstream infections decreased 43%, MRSA cases declined 22% and Clostridioides difficile cases went down 8% between 2012, when the Leapfrog Group began grading hospitals on these measures, and 2019. (Devereaux, 11/16)
Modern Healthcare: Sanford Health, Fairview Health To Merge In $14B Deal
Sanford Health and Fairview Health Services have signed a letter of intent to form a $14 billion health system, the Midwestern nonprofit companies announced Tuesday. (Kacik, 11/15)
Modern Healthcare: UHS, Banner Health And 8 Others Partner With General Catalyst
General Catalyst, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, announced Tuesday it’s partnering with 10 health systems to create a digital health ecosystem. (Perna, 11/15)
The Atlantic: Do You Really Want To Read What Your Doctor Writes About You?
You may not be aware of this, but you can read everything that your doctor writes about you. Go to your patient portal online, click around until you land on notes from your past visits, and read away. (Qureshi, 11/15)
KHN: Watch: As Health Costs Spike, The Role Of Hospitals Often Gets Overlooked
The documentary “InHospitable” explores the role hospitals play in a fractured U.S. health care system and how they have driven up costs. It presents stories of patients and activists who protested practices at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, a behemoth health system headquartered in Pittsburgh. They asserted that UPMC was making vital care unaffordable and sometimes unattainable for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable patients as it fought a business dispute with a rival health system. (11/16)
KHN: How Optimism Can Close The Medicaid Coverage Gap
More than 2 million low-income people — half of them in Florida and Texas — are uninsured because they are stuck in a coverage gap: They earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but because of a quirk of the Affordable Care Act, they earn too little to qualify for a subsidized ACA marketplace plan. The problem affects people in 11 states that haven’t expanded Medicaid. (Galewitz and Chang, 11/16)
