Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Study: Even Hospitals With High Safety Ratings Deliver Care With Racial Biases
Modern Healthcare: Leapfrog Group: Health Disparities Persist In Highly Rated Hospitals
Hospitals that receive high safety grades and score well on external safety measures do not provide better care to patients of color than lower-rated facilities, according to a study of more than 10 million patient records. The research from Leapfrog Group and Urban Institute, which used 2019 discharge data from across 15 states, found that Black and Latino patients are more at risk of experiencing adverse safety events than white patients, regardless of a hospital’s Leapfrog Group ranking. (Devereaux, 6/7)
KFF Health News: Burnout Threatens Primary Care Workforce And Doctors’ Mental Health
Melanie Gray Miller, a 30-year-old physician, wiped away tears as she described the isolation she felt after losing a beloved patient. “It was at the end of a night shift, when it seems like bad things always happen,” said Miller, who is training to become a pediatrician. (Sausser, 6/7)
In news about cancer treatments —
Stat: Novocure's Electric Fields Device Prolongs Survival In Lung Cancer
A medical device made by Novocure that creates electric fields in the lungs via wearable skin patches extended the survival of patients with lung cancer in a clinical trial, researchers reported Monday. The findings could lead to a new approval for the device, called Optune, beyond its current marketing clearance to treat a type of brain cancer. Delivering additional sales, however, could be a significant challenge. (Feuerstein, 6/6)
Stat: ASCO Showcased Payoff For New Cancer Medicines: Longer Lives
The biggest meeting in cancer research — and, really, one of the biggest annual conferences for the pharmaceutical industry as a whole — has drawn to a close. What did we learn from this year’s annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology? Here’s one lesson: New cancer medicines, given enough time, can be shown to affect the thing patients care about most — whether they live or die. (Herper, Chen, Feuerstein and MacPhail, 6/7)
Stat: Incoming ASCO President Buoyed By Cancer Advances
As a busy weekend at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting wound down, Lynn Schuchter accepted a gavel from Eric P. Winer, cueing the start of her one-year term as the society’s president. Come Monday, the first official day of her presidency, Schuchter was looking ahead to her year as president. She was also still energized from the plenary session the day before — which Schuchter said was one of the best she’d ever seen. (MacPhail, 6/7)
