Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Efforts To Quantify The Impact Of Del.'s Health Care Data Breaches; In Ariz., A Tanning-Bed Ban For Teens Gains Momentum
The News Journal: Scope Of Medical Data Breaches Unknown In Delaware
A growing crime, medical record-pilfering represents the next frontier of identity theft. As the modern medical workforce increasingly shares information electronically, hackers can use ransomware to hijack hospital records by encrypting patient data, and then demand payment to have it returned. Employee negligence, insecure mobile devices and use of public cloud services all threaten the security of highly sensitive information.In 2015 alone, more than 100 million health care records were compromised nationwide –– more than one-third of all computer security breaches that year. (Fishman, 1/27)
Arizona Republic: Arizona May Ban Teens From Tanning Beds
Arizona could ban teens under age 18 from tanning beds if some state lawmakers and physicians get their way. Currently, parents can sign permission slips for minor children to use tanning beds. House Bill 2194, called the Skin Cancer Preventative Act of 2017, would require photo ID to prove a customer is age 18 or older. (Beard Rau, 1/27)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: To Get To Patients Faster, Ambulances Roam Camden
Cooper Hospital officials announced last week that they had improved ambulance-response times since Gov. Christie signed a law allowing Cooper University Health Care to begin providing paramedic and ambulance services. Though the action led to a legal battle with Marlton-based Virtua Health System, which deemed the law unconstitutional, Cooper officials say their results — faster response times and a reduced reliance on mutual aid from other communities — speak for themselves. (Steele, 1/29)
San Francisco Chronicle: SF Archdiocese Ordered To Pay $3 Million In Health Care Costs
City officials have ordered the San Francisco Roman Catholic Archdiocese to pay nearly $3 million in health care costs for more than 1,000 employees after finding that it failed to make years of payments required by a pioneering local health care law. San Francisco has also assessed the archdiocese $113,000 in penalties. (Egelko, 1/29)
The Montgomery Advertiser: Restoration Center: San Antonio's Answer To Mental Health
The plan was simple: instead of arresting the mentally ill for crimes, treat them for their illness. Keep them out of the jails and emergency rooms and instead provide them with a one-stop shop where they can be treated with psychiatric care, counseling and rehabilitation. The plan in this Texas city was to help them heal. This happened in 2008 when the Roberto L. Jimenez M.D. Restoration Center opened. Since that time, close to 50,000 people have been treated, saving the law enforcement more than 100,000 manpower hours that can now be spent on the streets, and saving taxpayers more than $50 million. (Klass, 1/27)
Boston Globe: Partners Set To Acquire Mass. Eye And Ear
After nearly two centuries of independence, Massachusetts Eye and Ear has agreed to be acquired by Partners HealthCare, its leaders acknowledging that thriving as a specialty hospital has become nearly impossible in a market dominated by larger rivals. Mass. Eye and Ear — the last independently run hospital of its kind in the country — already has close ties to Partners, and the proposed combination disclosed on Friday isn’t expected to lead to big changes for its 2,200 employees or its patients right away. (Dayal McCluskey, 1/27)
The Associated Press: California Gets Closer To Requiring Cancer Warning Label On Roundup Weed Killer
California can require Monsanto to label its popular weed killer Roundup as a possible cancer threat even though the chemical giant insists it poses no risk to people, a judge tentatively ruled Friday. California would be the first state to order such labeling if it carries out the proposal. (1/27)
Denver Post: Denver Health Picks Pennsylvania Hospital Leader As Lone CEO Finalist
Denver Health and Hospital Authority has selected a Pennsylvania hospital leader as the sole finalist for its vacant CEO position, meaning she will ascend to the safety-net hospital’s top spot in two weeks. Robin Wittenstein currently serves as the chief population health officer for Penn State Health, a network of more than a dozen academic and clinical hospitals in central Pennsylvania. Denver Health’s board of directors approved her hiring in a vote Thursday night, according to a news release. (Ingold, 1/27)
New Hampshire Public Radio: Child Protection System Has Opportunity In Crisis, Says Outgoing Director
The outgoing Director of the Division of Children, Youth and Families says public scrutiny of her agency’s shortcomings could provide opportunities to improve the state’s child safety network. Lorraine Bartlett worked at DCYF for 28 years, with the last three as director. In those three years, Bartlett says the state's drug crisis upped the pressure on an already strained child protection system. (Rodolico, 1/27)
St. Louis Post Dispatch: Will A Simple Cardboard Box Save Missouri's Vulnerable Babies? The Bootheel Will Soon Find Out
But there’s debate whether the “boxinettes” will reduce sudden infant deaths or introduce new dangers to areas such as St. Louis, where infants die at an alarmingly high rate. The boxes are gaining popularity among health policy leaders. Just last week, public health officials in New Jersey announced a universal program to distribute the boxes to all new mothers in the state. Finland has been giving out the boxes to new mothers since the late 1930s, and their prevalence in the Nordic country has been tied to its extremely low infant-mortality rate. The colorfully decorated boxes are filled with clothes and other baby care items, with a bottom lined with a thin pad. (Cambra, 1/29)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: GE Healthcare To Transfer Jobs To Wisconsin
GE Healthcare confirmed Friday that it will shut down a plant in Laurel, Md., and shift an unspecified number of jobs to Wisconsin. The transfer of jobs will take place over the next 12 to 24 months, according to GE Healthcare spokesman Benjamin Fox. The jobs to be transferred will be split between the company's offices in the Milwaukee County Research Park in Wauwatosa and the firm's offices in Madison, Fox said. (Barrett, 1/27)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: New Orleans Patient 'Recruiter' Accused Of Medicare Kickback Scheme
A 34-year-old New Orleans woman is accused of participating in a Medicare kickback scheme run through a local home-health company, according to U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite's office. Saquena Griffin, also known as "Queenie" was formally charged Friday (Jan. 27) with receiving about $44,132 in kickbacks to bring Medicare beneficiaries to Comprehensive Nursing and Home Health Service, court records show. (McKnight, 1/27)
Richmond Times Dispatch: Parents Of Children With Mental Illness: Spend McAuliffe's Proposed $4.5 Million On Programs, Not Consultants
Kedrock, a clinical social worker, and others specifically question Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s $4.5 million budget proposal for a study and redesign of the structure of the behavioral health system that would be contracted out to consultants. The proposal was one of many intended to improve mental health services in Virginia. (Kleiner, 1/29)
Seattle Times: Gonzaga Changes Health-Insurance Policy For Pregnant Women After Complaints
Gonzaga University has changed its health-insurance policy after a nonprofit law firm alleged the school was illegally denying maternity care to dependents of employees. The Washington, D.C.-based National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) filed complaints against Gonzaga and three other institutions that receive federal funding in June 2013, claiming they violated the Affordable Care Act by refusing to provide prenatal care to some women. The law firm said Thursday that each institution has changed its policy in response to the complaints. (Sokol, 1/29)
CQ Roll Call: Battle Over Nutrition Program Will Again Frame Farm Bill
Texas Republican K. Michael Conaway has taken on tough assignments during his nearly 12 years in the House, including a stint as chairman of the ethics panel. It’s a job colleagues from both parties gladly avoid. Now as returning House Agriculture chairman, Conaway will take on another tough task in the 115th Congress: Moving a multiyear, multibillion-dollar farm bill through a contentious chamber that in 2013 rejected a committee-passed farm bill largely because of a battle between Republicans and Democrats over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. (Ferguson, 1/30)
