Viewpoints: What Is The Future Of Animal-To-Human Organ Transplants?; Ideas To Increase Patient Engagement

The Washington Post: After The Pig-To-Human Heart Transplant, The FDA, Clinicians And Insurers Have Some Catching Up To Do 
On Jan. 7, David Bennett, a 57-year-old man with end-stage heart disease, received a heart from a genetically modified pig at the University of Maryland Medical Center. ... The need for an alternative to human organs is urgent because donor organs are chronically in short supply: More than 100,000 patients with end-stage organ disease are on the national transplant waiting list. Every day, 17 people die while waiting for a lifesaving organ because of organ scarcity. Before xenotransplantation policies can be developed and implemented, clinical research trials — with human recipients of pig-organ transplants serving also as research participants — will need to be conducted. These trials will provide crucial information about the safety and effectiveness of the transplants.(Karen J. Maschke, Elisa J. Gordon and Michael K. Gusmano, 1/13)

Stat: Patient Engagement: The True Benchmark In Clinical Trials 
Patient engagement and community outreach may be hot topics in today’s clinical trial landscape, but they aren’t new ideas. Researchers and patient advocacy groups have focused on including patients and volunteers in study design and data reporting for many years. What’s new is the vital role technology plays in engagement as decentralized clinical trials become more popular. Patient engagement simply means patients working with their health care providers to make decisions about their health. In the context of clinical trials, this could mean participants giving advice on trial designs or tracking their own data using wearable devices and mobile applications. (Catherine Gregor, 1/14)

The Tennessean: Expanding Telehealth Access Is A Lifesaver For Vulnerable Patients
It's hard to find a silver lining in a pandemic. But COVID-19 has convinced the medical and policymaking establishments, perhaps unwittingly, that high-quality care can be delivered remotely. The telehealth revolution is upon us. Lawmakers waived numerous arcane and outdated regulations governing the use of telemedicine to make the service more available for everyday patients. Onerous restrictions that required patients to receive telehealth care in medical facilities and barred doctors from conducting appointments across state lines were as nonsensical before the pandemic as they are now. (Sally C. Pipes, 1/13)

The CT Mirror: Health Care In Connecticut Is Too Expensive. One Prescription: The Public Option
This past legislative session, the Connecticut General Assembly shelved consideration of a public option insurance plan after Gov. Ned Lamont threatened to veto the bill. In fact, 2021 marked the third consecutive legislative session where the proposed insurance plan did not receive a vote. But as a physician caring for Connecticut’s most vulnerable residents in the Emergency Department, we know that the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the shameful unmet public need for more support — and the evidence in support of the public option is clear. Now, more than ever, the Connecticut General Assembly should pass a public option for Connecticut. (Dr. Ryan Koski-Vacirca, 1/14)

Stat: Collecting Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity Data Must Be Done 
The importance of capturing demographic data in health care settings and population surveys can’t be overstated. If a population or group isn’t counted, it may as well be invisible. That’s why the recent recommendation by the Biden administration’s Covid-19 Health Equity Task Force that federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial health departments collect data on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data is a big deal. Two years into the pandemic, there are myriad reasons to hypothesize that LGBTQIA+ people are experiencing higher rates of Covid-19 infection, illness, hospitalization, and death than their heterosexual and cisgender peers. (Sean Cahill, 1/14)