Medicaid expands funding for home and community-based care : Shots

October 28, 2021 Vera

Expanded funds for in-home care can help seniors and disabled Americans stay in their homes. Here, Lidia Vilorio, a home health aide, gives her patient Martina Negron her medicine and crackers for her tea in May in Haverstraw, N.Y.

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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

For older people and people with disabilities, solving everyday practical problems can be the difference between being able to live at home or being forced to move to an institution. Sometimes people need help getting dressed or making meals. Sometimes they need help managing medications or shopping for groceries.

Originally, these things weren’t paid for by Medicaid, the federal health care program that many low-income and disabled Americans rely on. In recent years, the program has worked to expand coverage of home-based care but it’s still optional for states. Some states have adopted it widely, while in others, more care still happens in nursing homes and other institutions.

In April, the Biden administration rolled out funding from the American Rescue Plan to help states boost these services. And Thursday, the federal Department of Health and Human Services unveiled every state’s plan for how they’ll use the funds. An estimated $12.7 billion dollars in federal matching funds are available to “encourage states to expand home and community-based services and strengthen their programs,” according to an agency press release.

There's A Shortage Of Home Health Aides For The Elderly, And It's Getting Worse

“More and more people are saying, if I need care, I’d like it to be done at home or here in my community versus an institution or a hospital or a nursing home,” says Health Secretary Xavier Becerra. “In the 21st century, we’re moving closer to a care model that’s based on giving people services in their home.”

Becerra adds that his own father spent his last few months in hospice at home. “When he passed, he was in my home, he was surrounded by family,” he says.

Medicaid recently surpassed 80 million beneficiaries — the most ever since the program was created in the 1960s. It is the primary provider of long-term care services for older people, since these are not covered by Medicare or private insurance.

Opinion | Health Care Employment Is Rising. Is That a Good Thing?

October 28, 2021 Vera

The biggest success story in the table is No. 2, Minnesota’s Olmsted County, where the Mayo Clinic in Rochester draws patients from across the upper Midwest, as well as elsewhere in the United States and abroad. Mayo has become even more important to the city in recent years because IBM has reduced jobs there at what was once one of its bigger computer factories. “It is a true blessing to have a world-renowned health care institution based in our county,” says John Wade, the president of Rochester Area Economic Development Inc.

Every county that is dependent on the health care industry must decide whether to double down on its specialty or to diversify so it doesn’t have all its economic eggs in one basket. Olmsted County is open to all kinds of employers, but it’s emphasizing health care, says Patrick Seeb, the executive director of Destination Medical Center, which, despite its name, is not a hospital but an economic development agency responsible for doling out infrastructure funds from the State of Minnesota.

Seeb is trying to get people to call Rochester America’s Med City. Google and Epic Systems have opened offices there to work with Mayo on, respectively, data mining and electronic medical records, he says. And now other companies are arriving because of Google and Epic. “It’s concentric circles,” he says.

The third county on the list is a less happy story. Kentucky’s Breathitt County is in a part of Appalachia that has suffered from declining employment, dwindling population and poor health. “Health care is one of our biggest employers,” says Sue Clair, who has a real estate development company in the county seat, Jackson. “We don’t have any other kind of employment but that.” A 40,000-square-foot industrial building was put up more than 20 years ago with public funds but has never attracted a commercial tenant. “Right now it has the Breathitt County Water District in it,” she says.

Breathitt County is not alone on the list in being hard-pressed. Three of the top 10 counties are in eastern Kentucky, and another, Cumberland, is in south-central Kentucky, all of which are struggling economically. That’s no coincidence. When the local economy falters, total employment dwindles, and the need for health care services increases, both of which push counties upward on the list. Kentucky has the nation’s third-highest mortality rate, after West Virginia and Mississippi, according to the National Center

Lecture highlights need for compassion in health care

October 27, 2021 Vera

A few years ago, Dr. Trzeciak was facing burnout as a health care provider and knew something needed to change.

As a person who loves research, he began to dig into related literature and studies that focused on combating burnout in providers. In medical school, he said, he was taught that caring too much and having too much compassion could cause a provider burnout more quickly. What he found in studies, however, painted a different picture.

“What the literature shows is that there is an association with compassion and burnout – but it’s inverse. If there’s high compassion, there’s low burnout. Why? Well, we don’t know for sure but I have my hypothesis,” Dr. Trzeciak said. “Because when you connect with people through compassion, and have a relationship that flows from that, you get the fulfilling part. If you don’t have that then all you have is a really stressful job.”

Key to Resilience is Relationships

He tested his hypothesis on himself, as a study subject of one and found that when he leaned into caring more rather than detaching, his feelings of burnout began to lift. It wasn’t just about connecting with and showing compassion to patients and families, but to everyone he worked with and interacted with—professionally and personally. He believes this method can work not only within health care but in every walk of life.

He challenged everyone who is feeling the effects of burnout to give his method a chance, not just because it has worked for him and helped change his life, but because it is backed by science.

He highlighted a Harvard University study that tracked students at the university and Boston-area teenagers throughout their lives and found the best predictor of good health and well-being into your 80’s is your midlife quality of relationships. Dr. Trzeciak said this and many other studies show that the key to resilience is relationships.

“That’s why it is vitally important in our health systems, in our medical schools, everywhere – at the shopping mall, at the grocery store – that we take good care of each other,” Dr. Trzeciak said. “You don’t have to be a health care provider to feel burnout, especially in 2021.”

Compassion in Health Care

Compassionate and caring environments not only help team members face less burnout, but also help patients see better outcomes.

During his lecture, Dr. Trzeciak discussed many studies pointing

Medical device leader Medtronic joins race to bring AI to health care

October 25, 2021 Vera

Medtronic, the world’s largest medical device company, is significantly increasing its investments into AI and other technologies, in what it says is an effort to help the health care industry catch up with other industries.

While many other industries have embraced technology, health care has been slower. Studies reveal that only 20% of consumers would trust AI-generated health care advice.

VentureBeat interviewed Torod Neptune, Medtronic’s senior vice president and chief communications officer, and Gio Di Napoli, president of Medtronic’s Gastrointestinal Unit, to discuss the company’s vision of the future of health care technology.

Digital transformation in health care

Neptune spoke about Medtronic’s transition beyond traditional med tech to more innovative solutions using AI. He noted that health care technology — through its unusual scale and ability to harness data analytics, algorithms, and intelligence — plays a significant role in solving big problems in the AI field.

Artificial intelligence increases the detection of early cancer by 14% compared to normal colonoscopy, Di Napoli said. This is very important because “every percentage of increase in detection reduces the risk of cancer by 2%,” he said.

Building on Medtronic’s medical devices already serving millions (like its miniature pacemaker, smart insulin pump, and more), the company’s plan to make health care more predictive and personal led to the development of GI Genius Intelligent Endoscopy Module (granted USFDA de novo clearance on April 9, 2021, and launched on April 12, 2021).

Medical equipment arranged in shelves on a cart, with a large monitor on top that shows an intestinal scan in progress.

Above: Medtronic says its GI Genius Intelligent Endoscopy Module is the first-to-market computer-aided polyp detection system powered by artificial intelligence.

The GI Genius module is the first and only artificial intelligence system for colonoscopy, according to Medtronic, assisting physicians in detecting precancerous growths and potentially addressing 19 million colonoscopies annually. The company says the module serves as a vigilant second observer, using sophisticated AI-powered technology to detect and highlight the presence of precancerous lesions with a visual marker in real time.

Investing in innovative health care

Medtronic has launched more than 190 health care technology products in the past 12 months. It also invests $2.5 billion yearly on research and development (R&D). Medtronic’s CEO, Geoff Martha, recently announced a 10% boost in R&D spending by FY22.

This enormous investment, the largest R&D increase in company history, underscores Medtronic’s focus on innovation and technology.

The company says it plans to expand the number of patients it serves each year, with the

Oak Street Health buys virtual specialty care company RubiconMD for up to $190M

October 24, 2021 Vera

Oak Street Health buys virtual specialty care company RubiconMD for up to 0M

Oak Street Health, a chain of primary care clinics geared toward the Medicare population, has acquired virtual specialty care provider RubiconMD for up to $190 million.

The deal includes a base $130 million in cash with up to $60 million added subject to performance, paid either in cash or a cash and stock combination, according to an investor presentation.

RubiconMD provides a network of specialists providing care in areas including cardiology, nephrology and pulmonology.

“Carlos Reines and I founded RubiconMD to democratize medical expertise so that primary care providers can offer all patients the care they deserve, and we are thrilled for this next step with Oak Street Health,” Gil Addo, cofounder and CEO of RubiconMD, said in a statement. “We share similar cultures and values, as well as a commitment to delivering high-quality patient care and lowering costs, and we look forward to continuing to innovate together.”

WHY IT MATTERS

Some patients face difficulties accessing specialty care, particularly those who are low-income or live in rural areas. Oak Street Health is positioning its purchase as a way to deliver specialty care more easily, with a better experience for patients, improved care coordination and lower costs.

“Oak Street Health is on a mission to rebuild healthcare as it should be, which we are doing by focusing on preventive care and driving more resources into the primary care setting,” Mike Pykosz, CEO of Oak Street Health, said in a statement.

“Like traditional primary care, specialty care is broken for older adults, but together with RubiconMD, we can rebuild it into a model that meets patient needs. Integrating and virtualizing specialty care into Oak Street Health’s innovative model enables us to improve access, experience and coordination for patients while substantially lowering costs. RubiconMD’s technology platform and national footprint [allow] us to scale the model across our current and future markets to further our mission.”

THE LARGER TREND

In March 2020, RubiconMD scooped up $18 million in Series C funding, building on a $13.8 Series B from 2018.

Primary care is a popular space for healthcare innovation. Other players include ChenMed, another primary care provider focused on seniors, and One Medical, which completed its purchase of Medicare-focused Iora Health in September and launched a digital chronic care product earlier this week.

Virtual or hybrid primary care options abound too. Virtual care giant Teladoc Health’s Primary360 offering recently became available

Health care industry pressures spurring strikes across the country | Local News

October 20, 2021 Vera

The strike at Mercy Hospital is more than two weeks old.

But it isn’t the only place in the country where health care workers have gone on strike or reached the brink of walking off the job.

'We definitely do have leverage,' Mercy Hospital nurses say amid strike, labor shortage

The ongoing worker shortage could provide leverage for CWA as they continue to negotiate with Catholic Health System, hospital employees and labor experts say.

The reasons health care workers cite for striking are similar: They have endured the demands and exhaustion of working through the pandemic and insist hospitals staff up to help shoulder the workload.

They say their complaints about staffing levels and working conditions preceded the pandemic but have moved to the forefront over the past year and a half with greater attention on their work.

The strikes and threatened walkouts are creating more urgency to confront the issues, at a time when hospital systems say they are struggling to recruit workers.

AG claims staffing firm in Mercy Hospital strike lacks license

The state Attorney General’s Office called for Huffmaster to stop providing its services to Mercy Hospital.

The swirl of worker shortages, the pandemic and the pressures health care workers are under have led some labor disputes to spill over into strikes, said Larry Zielinski, a former Buffalo General Hospital president.

“It just exacerbates the normal labor-management issues that have existed in health care for a long, long time,” said Zielinski, an executive in residence for health care administration at the University at Buffalo School of Management.

Mercy Hospital strike — Workers have been on strike at Mercy Hospital since Oct. 1.

Robert Kirkham / Buffalo News

It comes at a time when employers across the country, in all sorts of industries, are struggling to fill jobs, a dynamic that gives workers some leverage by making it harder for companies to hire replacements for striking workers.

The competition for workers also is forcing some industries to raise wages for lower-paid workers – a factor that has taken on a prominent role in the health care labor disputes, including at Mercy.

As the strike at Mercy continues, Catholic Health faces another pressure point, in the form of the millions of dollars it is paying each week to a staffing firm for temporary replacement workers it is relying upon to keep the hospital open.

As about 2,000 striking CWA members support their union’s push for a new contract, they are about to receive a financial boost.

More than 2,000 workers are part