State Highlights: Minn. Unveils Plan To Accelerate Elder Abuse Investigations; Viral Video Of Discharged Baltimore Woman Draws Federal Attention

The Star Tribune: Minnesota Officials Detail Backlog Of Elder Abuse Cases
Amid deepening concern about violence in Minnesota senior care homes, state regulators on Wednesday unveiled an ambitious plan to accelerate investigations of elder abuse and reduce the state's massive backlog of unresolved cases. At a state Senate committee hearing Wednesday morning, Human Services Commissioner Emily Piper said a team of officials is sorting through more than 2,300 maltreatment complaints — reports that have never been reviewed by state regulators because of poor record-keeping and other inefficiencies at the state agency charged with protecting seniors. Another 826 maltreatment cases have been assigned for investigation but have never been resolved. (Serres, 1/24)

Pioneer Press: Minnesota Agency Investigating Complaints Against Staffers Responsible For Uncovering Elder Abuse
The Minnesota Department of Health is investigating complaints against two employees who are responsible for uncovering misconduct at senior and long-term care facilities. A department spokesman confirmed late Tuesday that there were complaints pending against Kris Lohrke, director of the Office of Health Facility Complaints, and her colleague Assistant Director Michelle Ness. Under state law, the specifics of complaints against public employees become public only after the investigation is completed and if an employee is disciplined. (Magan, 1/24)

WBUR: Feds Investigate After Patient In Hospital Gown Was Left At Baltimore Bus Stop
A federal regulator has launched an investigation into a Baltimore hospital after a passerby shot a video earlier this month of a confused patient wearing just a hospital gown discharged at a bus stop on a cold night. ... Now, a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services spokesperson tells NPR that it has authorized a federal investigation into the hospital over potential violations of federal regulatory requirements. (Kennedy, 1/24)

San Jose Mercury News: California's Right-To-Die Law Is Working But Challenges Remain
California’s right-to-die law has been embraced by many around the state — from scores of patients and their families to individual doctors, some hospice caregivers and several health care systems. But as positive as the reception appears to be so far, plenty of challenges remain, according to testimony offered from experts and other stakeholders during an almost 3½ hour-long legislative hearing at the state capitol on Wednesday. (Seipel, 1/24)

Modern Healthcare: Blue Cross Of North Carolina Comes Out Against Carolinas-UNC Merger
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, the state's largest health insurer, publicly opposed the proposed merger between Carolinas HealthCare System and UNC Health Care, arguing it will drive up prices for patients. In a letter Wednesday to the health systems' CEOs, Blue Cross and Blue Shield CEO Dr. Patrick Conway wrote the insurer has a responsibility to its roughly 3.9 million members to slow rising healthcare costs. "After a thorough review of independent research which shows that when healthcare systems combine costs for consumers go up, Blue Cross NC cannot support your proposed combination," Conway wrote.  (Bannow, 1/24)

Pioneer Press: State Report Blames St. Paul Nursing Home For Resident’s Death 
When a St. Paul nursing home resident’s ventilator tube became detached and sounded an alarm during a worship service at the facility last summer, there weren’t any nursing staff around to help, according to a report by the Minnesota Department of Health. Staff didn’t notice the detached tube for an hour, at which point it was too late to save the resident, the report said. The department blames Bethel Care Center for neglecting the resident, which led to his death. (Chavey, 1/24)

Miami Herald: Hospice Is Shutting Down In Key West, And There’s A Problem With The Alternative
The VNA and Hospice of the Florida Keys, which has provided end-of-life services since 1984 and is based in Key West, will shutter its doors Feb. 28 due to continued financial stress only worsened by Hurricane Irma’s fallout, its operators said. The shutdown leaves no hospice care in the Lower Keys and will eliminate 10 full-time and 12 part-time jobs. (Filosa, 1/24)

The Star Tribune: Minnesota Hospitals' Spending On Community Health At Risk 
Minnesota hospitals sharply increased their spending in 2016 on health fairs and other community services that identify and prevent diseases, according to a report released Wednesday, but federal policy changes could make that tough to maintain. Contributions to “targeted community services” rose from $354 million in 2011 to $567 million in 2016, partly because the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) required hospitals, as of 2012, to assess and address local health problems. (Olson, 1/24)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: County To Offer Juvenile Offender Treatment Option To Lincoln Hills
Milwaukee County has proposed hiring Wisconsin Community Services at a cost of $2.7 million this year to run a treatment center for male teens on Milwaukee's north side. The center would provide county judges with an alternative to imprisonment for some youth offenders, county Health and Human Services officials said. (Behm, 1/24)

Minnesota Public Radio: Hospitals Blame Rising Deductibles For Patients Who Can't Pay
Minnesota hospitals say they're providing more care that's not paid for. The industry trade group says that's largely because more patients face health insurance deductibles they can't afford. (Moylan, 1/24)

Wyoming Public Radio: Health Department Recommends Tests For Radioactive Gas
Radon is the second most common cause of lung cancer in the state after smoking, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. Radon is an odorless, colorless, radioactive gas that exists in nature. (Elder, 1/24)

Dallas Morning News: Program Pairs Counselors With Cops To Better Handle Mental Health Calls In Southern Dallas 
Police officers, paramedics and social workers will team up to better respond to mental health emergencies as part of a pilot program starting Monday in southern Dallas. The initiative will pair psychiatric social workers from Parkland Memorial Hospital with paramedics from Dallas Fire-Rescue and South Central patrol officers dispatched to 911 calls involving behavioral health issues. (Branham, 1/24)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: MetroHealth To Complete $1.3 Million Renovation Of Its Behavioral Health Inpatient Unit
The MetroHealth System is planning a $1.3 million renovation of its behavioral health inpatient unit, a handful of years before the site will be demolished as part of the overall campus transformation plan. The improvements to the unit are in response to new safety recommendations from The Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals, designed to reduce the risk of suicide in health care facilities. (Christ, 1/24)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Governor Forces Dentist Accused Of Medicaid Fraud Off State Board
A state dentistry board member whose company has been accused of performing painful, unnecessary dental work on children as part of a Medicaid fraud scheme has resigned. Gov. Nathan Deal asked Dale G. Mayfield, chief dental officer for Marietta-based Kool Smiles, to step down on Tuesday amid questions from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about his position on the Georgia Board of Dentistry. (Edwards, 1/24)

Georgia Health News: As In Past, Georgia Gets Poor Grades On Smoking
Georgia received four F’s and one C grade for its anti-tobacco work in the annual “State of Tobacco Control’’ report, released Wednesday by the American Lung Association. The grades mirror those the group has given to the state for years. (Miller, 1/24)

Dallas Morning News: Doctors And Lab Companies Used Unneeded Cheek Swabs To Profit, Feds Say 
The owner of an Addison medical company and a California laboratory have agreed to pay the government several million dollars to settle allegations in a whistleblower lawsuit that they paid kickbacks to doctors for referring patients for unnecessary genetic tests, the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas said Wednesday. Mitch Edland, owner of DNA Stat, LLC of Addison will pay $270,000, and Primex Clinical Laboratories LLC of California will pay $3.5 million under the settlement, the U.S. attorney's office said. But a Jan. 18 agreed order signed by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle said Edland owes the government $6.3 million. The U.S. attorney's office was working on a clarification Wednesday night.  (Krause, 1/24)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Moreland Hills Doctors Performed Unnecessary Tests, Illegally Prescribed Drugs, Feds Say
The FBI arrested a Moreland Hills husband and wife who ran medical clinics in Cleveland, Strongsville and Parma and accused them of performing unnecessary medical tests and procedures on patients to get payouts from insurance companies, according to court documents. ...They face charges of conspiracy, health care fraud, making false statements relating to health care matters and distribution of controlled substances, as federal prosecutors say they prescribed medically unnecessary painkillers and addictive medicine to their patients. (Heisig, 1/24)

Arizona Republic: Family Of Autistic Teen Asks Buckeye For $5 Million
The family of a teen with autism who was injured after a Buckeye police officer mistook him for a drug user last year seeks $5 million, according to a notice of claim filed with the city this month. The notice of claim, often a precursor to a lawsuit, details the physical injuries, "emotional damages" and "significant economic harm" the teen and his family sustained after the July incident. (Gomez, 1/24)

Sacramento Bee: New Lawsuit In California Vs. Trump Seeks To Tighten Rules On Fracking
California, the third-largest oil producing state in the nation, on Wednesday sued the Trump administration to reinstate an Obama-era rule governing hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra argued the move by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to repeal regulations on fracking represents a threat to public health and the environment. (Hart, 1/24)