State Highlights: Cracks In Kansas’ Mental Health System Exposed After Murder; Calif. HIV Program In Disarray After Operator Shift

KCUR: Murder At Mental Health Facility Exposes Gaps In Kansas System 
Mental health nursing facilities are unique to Kansas. Created for adults who need extensive mental health care but aren’t a danger to themselves or others, they fill a niche between community treatment and the two state psychiatric hospitals. Across Kansas, about 800 patients live in 10 mental health nursing facilities. Unlike geriatric nursing homes, they aren’t intended to house patients for the rest of their lives, said Cindy Luxem, president and CEO of the Kansas Health Care Association, which represents some of the state’s nursing facilities. (Wingerter, 1/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: HIV Patients Call Drug Program Fractured After Shift In Operators
A state program that helps people pay for expensive, lifesaving HIV drugs is in disarray after the Oakland company that managed it for nearly 20 years was replaced by three out-of-state operators, say patients and AIDS advocacy groups. So far, the transition between contractors, which occurred last summer, has mostly proved stressful and time-consuming for patients and their caseworkers. But advocacy groups worry that patients could be delayed in obtaining HIV medications they rely on to stay healthy, which would be problematic not only for them but for programs designed to control spread of the virus. (Allday, 1/23)

Iowa Public Radio: Branstad Backs DHS In Probe Of Abuse Of Mentally Disabled Patients 
Governor Branstad says the investigation continues into the abuse of patients at the state-run Glenwood Resource Center in western Iowa. But he says he will not second-guess the Department of Human Services for not reprimanding supervisors at the facility which cares for patients with profound mental disabilities. The majority of employees are hard-working, conscientious peopleSix employees were fired and others were disciplined for physically and verbally abusing patients, but that did not include managers. (Russell, 1/23)

Boston Globe: State Health Care Giant Pushes For Cuts In Hospital Payments 
The state agency that spends more than $2 billion a year to provide health coverage to 436,000 public employees, retirees, and their families is pushing changes that would allow it to slash what it pays the most expensive hospitals, a drastic move to try to rein in health care costs. The Group Insurance Commission voted unanimously last week to support capping its payments to health care providers at 160 percent of the rates paid by Medicare, the federal government’s insurance program for seniors. (Dayal McCluskey, 1/24)

Boston Globe: Baker To Propose New Spending To Improve Care At Bridgewater State Hospital 
Governor Charlie Baker on Tuesday is expected to urge state lawmakers to approve funding aimed at sweeping changes in mental health care for approximately 250 men held at troubled Bridgewater State Hospital. Baker will use his State of the Commonwealth address to request $37 million in additional spending to cement a deal with a Nashville firm to provide security and clinical services for men suffering from serious mental health disorders who have become involved in the criminal justice system. (Rezendes, 1/24)

Nashville Tennessean: On-Demand Teeth Straightening Company Cuts Out Braces For Millennials
For the millennials — or other adults — who want straighter teeth without going to the dentist, there's a way to get invisible aligners fit and delivered through the mail. SmileDirectClub, a nearly three-year-old company, is did more 75,000 evaluations in 2016. That's a daily average of 204 evaluations of people who want a "better smile" as co-founder Alex Fenkell describes the company's customers. (Fletcher, 1/23)

Seattle Times: It’s Not Healthier To Live In The Country: Rural Washingtonians Sicker Than City Dwellers 
Rural Americans are sicker than urban Americans, and their health is declining, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Researchers looked at the rates for the five leading causes of death in the United States: heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease (CLRD), stroke and accidents. They found that not only are mortality rates for these causes significantly higher in rural areas, but the gap between urban and rural rates has been growing. (Balk, 1/23)

The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com: Continuum Health Buys Controlling Stake In Partners In Care
Continuum Health Alliance, a privately-health Marlton physician services company, has acquired a controlling stake in Partners in Care, an East Brunswick, N.J., an independent provider network and management company, Continuum said Monday. The deal, the price of which was not disclosed, will add a network of 600 doctors  to the 2,000 Continuum already serves, Continuum's chief executive Don McDaniel said. (Brubaker, 1/23)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Anderson Woman 'OK' As She Awaits 4th Kidney
To her friends, Pam Moon offers a solid, “I’m OK.“I’m just waiting.” The wait is familiar. She first experienced it when a senior at Anderson High School. That was the year the now 54-year-old Anderson Township woman was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease and underwent her first kidney transplant. That kidney was the gift of life from a stranger. As Moon learned, however, a kidney transplant is not necessarily a one-and-done kind of solution. Over the years she’s received a total of three kidneys – the last two from relatives. Now she’s in need of a fourth. (Vilvens, 1/23)

Arizona Republic: Lawmakers Defang Plan For Lower-Cost Dental Therapists To Practice In Arizona
Despite a promise of more access to dental care at lower costs, a push to license a new type of dental provider has stalled at the Arizona Legislature. Similar to physician assistants, dental therapists operate under the supervision of licensed dentists and can perform minor dental procedures such as fillings, crowns and extractions. These “midlevel providers” are allowed in Minnesota, Maine and Vermont and practice in tribal areas in Alaska, Oregon and Washington. (Alltucker, 1/23)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Akron Releases Interactive Map Showing Lead Pipe Services 
The city of Akron on Monday released public records and an interactive map that shows the locations of active lead pipe services and non-lead pipe services throughout the city. The map was released under a 2016 state law that requires public water systems to identify the locations of any lead piping in service areas and make that information available to the public. (Becka, 1/23)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Robots Zapping Infectious 'Bugs' At Christ Hospital
Recently, the federal government dinged four local hospitals for having higher-than-allowed hospital-acquired infection rates. Christ Hospital was not among those penalized, but because the war on the bad bugs is non-ceasing, the hospital rolled out its new armament last week. Presenting: more efficient robots. Christ Hospital announced that it is the first hospital system in Greater Cincinnati to use five Xenex LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots charged with the mission of “destroying hard-to-kill pathogens in hard-to-clean places.” (Saker, 1/23)

Austin American-Statesman: 5 Things To Know About The Increase In Central Texas Flu Cases
Central Texas is experiencing a sharp increase in cases of influenza A, a type of flu, according to Baylor Scott & White Health officials. Here are five things to know. (Toohey, 1/23)