July 29, 2021 | Americans owe ~$140B in medical debt
INDUSTRY NEWS
Americans owe ~$140B in medical debt
Americans' medical debt added together totaled roughly $140 billion last year, according to research published in JAMA. That represents a significant rise: An earlier study estimated that Americans held $81 billion in medical debt in 2016. Americans owe debt collectors more medical debt than any other source of debt. The researchers found that nearly 20% of Americans had medical debt in collections in June 2020. The debts are largest in states that didn’t expand Medicaid. (JAMA; Axios)
AMA, ANA, et al.: Mandate vax for health workers
On Monday, the AMA, the American Nurses Association and more than 50 other health care groups called for COVID-19 vaccines to be mandated for health care. "Due to the recent COVID-19 surge and the availability of safe and effective vaccines, our health care organizations and societies advocate that all health care and long-term care employers require their workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine," they wrote. "This is the logical fulfillment of the ethical commitment of all health care workers to put patients as well as residents of long-term care facilities first and take all steps necessary to ensure their health and well-being." (The Hill; statement)
INNOVATION & TRANSFORMATION
Medicare as the great equalizer? Almost.
Eligibility for Medicare at age 65 years was associated with marked reductions in racial and ethnic disparities in insurance coverage, access to care and self-reported health, according to research published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. Specifically, disparities in insurance coverage were cut by 53% between Black people and white people, and 51% for Latino people versus white people. “Expanding eligibility for Medicare may be a viable means to reduce racial and ethnic disparities and advance health equity by closing gaps in insurance coverage,” according to the authors. (JAMA Internal Medicine)
CONSUMERS & PROVIDERS
PCPs key to overcoming vaccine hesitancy
Primary care physicians' experience delivering vaccines equips them to provide COVID-19 vaccines and counseling, according to a paper published in the Annals of Family Medicine. “Whether primary care physicians provide the vaccine, or only provide immunization counseling, their role may help assure successful delivery of the COVID-19 vaccines to communities across the nation, including rural and remote communities. …PCPs can [also] provide clinical and personal support to enable patients to understand their current COVID-19 immunologic status, how that may impact their vaccine decisions, and to counter vaccine hesitancy and misinformation” (Annals of Family Medicine)
Burnout risk: Longer, more redundant notes in EHR
EHR clinician progress notes have grown longer and more redundant, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. This raises concern for clinician burnout. The median length of clinical progress notes in EHRs increased from 401 words in 2009 to 642 words in 2018; the median note redundancy rate increased from 47.9% to 58.8%. “In this study, outpatient progress notes grew longer and more redundant over time, potentially limiting their use in patient care. Interventions aimed at reducing outpatient progress note length and redundancy may need to simultaneously address multiple factors such as note template design and training for both new and established clinicians." (EHR Intelligence; JAMA Network Open)
Study: Disparities in opioid prescriptions
In a Medicaid population, the average annual opioid doses prescribed to Black patients were 36% lower than white patients treated at the same hospitals, according to a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine. “We do not know whether or how these differences affect patient outcomes, because both opioid underuse and overuse can cause harm. We do know that skin color should not influence the receipt of pain treatment.” The authors say the findings should “prompt action by providers, health system administrators, and policymakers to explore root causes, consequences, and effective remediation strategies for racially unequal opioid receipt.” (New England Journal of Medicine)
NEW & NOTED
VA mandates vaccine: On Monday, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced it will require 115,000 of its frontline health care workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus in the next two months, making it the first federal agency to mandate those employees be inoculated. (New York Times)
Pediatric prescriptions drop: The amount of prescription drugs given to children in the US dropped by 27.1% between April and December 2020, compared with the same period in 2019, according to research published in Pediatrics. Declines were greater for infection-related drugs than for chronic disease drugs. “The big question that needs to be answered: Is this just a pandemic-related blip, or something more lasting?” (Pediatrics; Medscape Medical News)
VA virtual CMM a success: When the VA transitioned virtual outpatient comprehensive medication management, the consistency and quality of care was not compromised; in fact, the program saw more patients and documented more encounters, and the no-show rate dropped. (Journal of The American College of Clinical Pharmacy)
MULTI-MEDIA
Post-COVID memory problems may be linked to Alzheimer's disease. For example, PET scans taken before and after a person develops COVID-19 suggest that the infection can cause changes that overlap those seen in Alzheimer's. And genetic studies are finding that some of the same genes that increase a person's risk for getting severe COVID-19 also increase the risk of developing the disease. (NPR)
MARKETVOICES...QUOTES WORTH READING
"It's downright scary." —Dr. Gabriel de Erausquin, a professor of neurology at UT Health San Antonio, talking about the potential Alzheimer's / COVID link, on NPR