Getty Images Overnight Health Care: Fauci says 'bizarre' efforts to discredit him only hurt the White House | Alabama to require face masks | House panel probes 'problematic' government contracts

Welcome to Wednesday's Overnight health care.

Anthony Fauci spoke out on attacks against him from the White House, the Alabama governor is requiring face masks and the Oklahoma governor has coronavirus himself.

We'll start with Fauci.

Fauci says 'bizarre' efforts to discredit him only hurt the White House

Anthony Fauci said the efforts to discredit him from some in the Trump administration are "bizarre" and a poor reflection on the president.

In an interview with The Atlantic published Wednesday, the nation's top infectious diseases expert responded to news that the White House sent out a memo over the weekend detailing "wrong" statements he had made about the pandemic.

"I cannot figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that," Fauci said. "I think they realize now that that was not a prudent thing to do, because it's only reflecting negatively on them."

Context: The White House press shop sent some media outlets a list of "wrong" statements Fauci has made on the pandemic, and President Trump's top trade adviser Peter Navarro published an op-ed in USA Today claiming Fauci has been wrong about "everything."

"I stand by everything I said," Fauci told The Atlantic. "Contextually, at the time I said it, it was absolutely true."

Read more on the interview here.

Navarro-Fauci battle intensifies, to detriment of Trump

Navarro's battle with Fauci intensified on Wednesday, putting the White House in a difficult position as it struggles to downplay evidence of a rift between Trump and one of the nation's most trusted health experts.

The White House communications team on Wednesday sought to distance itself from Navarro's USA Today op-ed, saying that the piece did not go through normal clearance processes and represents the opinion of Navarro alone.

Trump told reporters Wednesday that he has a "very good relationship" with Fauci and said Navarro shouldn't be making statements "representing himself," referring to the op-ed.

Less Navarro? Officials familiar with Navarro's standing in the White House did not expect Navarro to be fired but said he may be temporarily reined in from doing so many media appearances. They noted he has in the past gone beyond administration talking points, requiring other aides to do clean up.

Read more here.

Alabama to require face masks

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) announced a mandatory statewide mask order Wednesday, citing a 50 percent increase in new COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks.

"Despite all our best efforts, we're seeing increases in cases every day still occurring and we're almost to the point where hospital ICUs are overwhelmed," Ivey said at a press conference.

Alabama reported 2,141 new cases overnight, bringing the state's total number of confirmed cases to more than 58,000.

Ivey, who was reluctant to issue a mask order earlier in the pandemic, said she believes it will be hard to enforce.

Context: More than 20 states now require masks in public. Ivey's order expires July 31, but experts note that mask-wearing needs to be a long-term measure while the virus is still spreading.

Read more here.

House panel probes 'problematic' government contracts for COVID-19 supplies

Democrats on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis are asking Trump officials to explain contracts for personal protective equipment, testing supplies and other materials that they say went to companies with political ties to the administration or that were unprepared to fill the orders.

Examples they point to:

The significance: Democrats on the committee, led by Chairman James Clyburn (S.C.), said the contracting practices could be "contributing to shortages" of protective equipment and other supplies, if contracts are going to unqualified companies unable to properly fill the orders.

Read more here.

WHO warns COVID-19 pandemic lowering childhood vaccination rates worldwide

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a major plunge in childhood vaccination rates worldwide, and the World Health Organization (WHO) is warning the effects of children missing routine immunizations could become even worse than the pandemic itself.

The emergence of COVID-19 threatens to reverse "hard-won progress to reach more children and adolescents with a wider range of vaccines," the WHO said.

A WHO survey - conducted in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Sabin Vaccine Institute and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health - found three-quarters of responding countries reported COVID-19 related disruptions in their vaccine programs as of May.

One example: Preliminary data for the first four months of 2020 points to a substantial drop in the number of children completing three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3). According to WHO, this is the first time in 28 years that the world could see a reduction in DTP3 coverage.

Read more here.

Oklahoma governor tests positive for COVID-19

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) announced Wednesday that he has tested positive for COVID-19.

The governor made the announcement during a press conference, according to a local ABC affiliate is reporting. His test came back positive Tuesday afternoon.

Stitt, 48, said he believes he is the first governor in the nation to test positive for the virus. In March, one of his Cabinet members, David Ostrowe, also tested positive.

The governor said he "feels fine" and that his wife and children have tested negative.

Stitt advocated for President Trump's in-person campaign rally in Tulsa last month. He attended the rally himself and was seen in images of the event not wearing a face mask.

Read more here.

What we're reading

As the coronavirus crisis spins out of control, Trump issues directives - but still no clear plan (Washington Post)

New coronavirus treatments are expected this fall. But how powerful will they be? (McClatchy)

Ben Carson on second coronavirus economic shutdown: 'You do that again, and you completely destroy the financial infrastructure' (Yahoo Finance)

State by state

Why Arizona wasn't ready for its coronavirus surge (The Wall Street Journal)

Investigation uncovers missteps in Washington, D.C.'s coronavirus response (NPR)

'Things ain't going back to normal': Californians reel as shutdown hits again (Guardian)

The Hill op-eds

Provider bias in health care

Listening to Trump gave Sunbelt governors a new COVID-19 headache

Video: White House officials working to undermine Faucis credibility (NBC News)

UP NEXT

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Overnight Health Care: Fauci says 'bizarre' efforts to discredit him only hurt the White House | Alabama to require face masks | House panel probes...

AURORA, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Simplify Healthcare is proud to support its not-for-profit affiliate, Makers Merci, in donating $10k towards COVID-19 relief efforts. Partnering with Loaves & Fishes Community Services, Makers Merci aims to provide food and other necessities to those who are most impacted by the coronavirus outbreak, including hourly workers, the homeless, and the elderly.

Backed by Simplify Healthcare, Makers Merci is a non-profit organization that primarily focuses on food assistance, education support and training, healthcare services support, and filling gaps in elderly and orphan care.

Given the health and economic crises created by the COVID-19 pandemic, more of our neighbors need support than ever before.

Loaves & Fishes is a leading community service committed to providing food and support to those in need. Makers Merci has partnered with the NGO to ensure the struggling families have access to all the necessities and resources they need to overcome the hunger and other problems during these unprecedented times.

Given the fortunate position we are in, we feel an obligation to support those who have experienced personal tragedy as a result of this pandemic. We are delighted to partner with Loaves & Fishes Community Services. This is a terrific organization who works hard every day and has such a meaningful impact supporting those most in need in our local community. - Mohammed Vaid, Founding Patron, Makers Merci

We appreciate the support we have received recently from a number of people in our community. We are grateful for your generosity. Mike Havala, CEO, Loaves & Fishes Community Services

ABOUT SIMPLIFY HEALTHCARE

Simplify Healthcare is a rapidly growing technology solutions provider that addresses the toughest challenges faced by Health Plans in todays competitive marketplace. Simplify Healthcare was awarded the Deloitte 2018 Technology Fast 500, recognized in the 2018 Inc. 5000 list of Americas fastest-growing private companies, listed as a sample vendor in 2018 Gartner Hype Cycle for value-based reconciliation solutions, won the 2018 Corp! Magazine Michigans Bright Spot award and Corp! 2016 Technology Innovation award, was named the sole leader in IDCs Health Plan Product/Plan Benefit Configuration Solutions Vendor Assessment in 2016 and voted the Best Newcomer for 2014 at the Healthcare IT Summit.

For more information, please visit simplifyhealthcare.com.

Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

ABOUT MAKERS MERCI

Driven by values and fueled by a passion for creating a better and sustainable world, Makers Merci is an initiative that alleviates poverty and delivers vital services, relief, and support to those in crisis.

The organization helps via donations or collaborates with volunteers and partners to spread smiles and help those in need. Its initiatives primarily focus on food assistance, education support and training, healthcare services support, and filling gaps in elderly and orphan care.

For more information, please visit makersmerci.org.

Follow Makers Merci on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

ABOUT LOAVES & FISHES COMMUNITY SERVICES

Loaves & Fishes Community Services began in a church closet serving eight families. Thirty-six years later, the organization is helping nearly 20,000 individuals each year, providing healthy food and impactful programs for self-sufficiency. Clients receive a good variety of food, including fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, and eggs.

The Loaves & Fishes CARES programs help clients become self-sufficient through a variety of opportunities including resource meetings, public benefits, emergency assistance, car donations, Vita tax preparation, job readiness, computer classes, budget and credit classes, and Moving Up, a 16-session intensive to help clients overcome barriers so they can become self-sufficient.

Loaves & Fishes Community Services serves DuPage County and parts of Will County. They also have a satellite location at the Compass Church in Bolingbrook, IL.

For more information, please visit http://www.loaves-fishes.org.

Read more from the original source:

Simplify Healthcare supports Maker's Merci in partnering with Loaves & Fishes Community Services to help those impacted by COVID-19 - Business...

News

COVID-19 and its impact on rural broadband, healthcare

Rural broadband and healthcare providers continue to face challenges because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Catherine Moyer, CEO of Kansas-based Pioneer Communications, says many schools and businesses moved online in a short amount of time and broadband providers had to adjust to meet the needs of the community.

We increased broadband speeds across the board, we increased capacity on our network both in our internal transport network but also to the outside world, we added additional Wi-Fi hotspots that we opened up to the public, and we also worked with our customers as they faced unexpected financial issues, she says.

Rick Breuer, CEO of Minnesota-based Community Memorial Hospital, says they were going to spend a year preparing a telehealth platform for the community and instead had it ready in two weeks because of COVID-19.

A lot of rural facilities were in the exact same boat because you just had to if you were going to maintain viable service, he says. So, we did it and we had a great team that got it up and running and we had very patient providers willing to work through all the bugs, he says.

He says telehealth services will remain in place long after the country recovers from the pandemic.

Breuer and Moyersay assistance from the administration has helped, but more must be done in thefuture.

Breuer says there are some rural clinics that havent been eligible for assistance, but he hopes they will be soon. Moyer says shes hopeful Congress will address universal service and the Keeping Critical Connections Act.

Breuer and Moyer made these comments during a from the farm gate webinar by Farm Credit.

Read the original here:

COVID-19 and its impact on rural broadband, healthcare - brownfieldagnews.com

South Carolina, the Upstate and Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System are seeing a continued surge in COVID-19 cases that is starting to take a toll on staff members, the chief medical officer said Wednesday.

"There is no doubt this is one of the worst hot spots in the country and we have a serious crisis on our hands," Dr. Christopher Lombardozzi told SRHS trustees at their monthly meeting.

"As the cases continue to rise, it affects not just patients, not just the community, but also takes a toll on the physical and mental health of our team."

He said departments continue to work with doctors, nurses, therapists, lab technicians and administrators who have children at home.

"Some of our associates have had to leave because of day-cares closing," he said, adding that if schools stay closed the staffing adjustments will continue to be needed.

"As of (Wednesday), SRHS doesn't have a staffing shortage. However, our staff is strained and we are very concerned for the future," Lombardozzi said.

Through Memorial Day, he said the hospital might routinely see 10 hospitalizations for those with COVID-19 symptoms.

Since then, it's grown to about 60 positive COVID-19 hospitalizations, and this week 75, he said. On top of that, there are nearly 30 hospitalizations for those under investigation for the coronavirus, he said.

The hospital system still has more than enough critical care beds to handle the current and expected caseload of COVID patients, he said.

With hospitals in Spartanburg, Cherokee and Union counties, "we are in relatively good position due to our ability to move patients throughout the system," he said.

Wednesday, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 97 new positive COVID-19 cases in Spartanburg County, bringing the county's total to 2,745 cases and 57 deaths. Saturday, the county saw its highest daily total to date, 126 new cases.

Just a couple weeks earlier, the county was averaging a little more than 50 new daily cases.

In other words, health officials don't know when the rising numbers will end, he said.

One reason for the high numbers is, more people are getting tested, he said.

"We're currently running 400 a day through those (three SRHS testing) sites," Lombardozzi said. "I imagine that will continue to increase."

Further, as the number of those tested continues to rise, so does the rate of those who test positive, he said. Roughly 22 percent of those tested are positive, he said, compared to before Memorial Day when the rate was as low as 4 or 5 percent.

Further, the average age of those who test positive has been dropping, from the 50s to about 41 years old, he said.

Statewide, he said DHEC has reported 46 percent of those who tested positive were white and 32 percent black.

"If there's any good news in this, the percent positive fell from 40 to 32 percent for blacks," he said. "It's still not reflective in the overall population of the state. Unfortunately, the minority population is over-represented when it comes to COVID."

Lombardozzi said the best advice is the same advice he's been giving since the start of the pandemic in early March.

"If there's one message for the community -- wear masks, wear masks, wear masks. They do work," he said. "The older age group is not testing positive in as high a degree as previously. They are adhering to our recommendations -- staying at home, wearing masks, washing their hands, maintaining physical distance and avoiding large congregations of people."

Meanwhile, the hospital system is seeing how big a hit financially caused by COVID-19 and postponement of elective surgeries.

Chief Financial Officer Bruce Davis said in May, net revenue was down $17 million. For the year, there has been a $24 million revenue gain, versus a $39 million gain that was budgeted.

"We're in great shape compared to other hospital systems out there," Davis said. "It's been a rough couple of months financially, but we remain strong."

Free coronavirus coverage: This story is free to all as a public service of The Spartanburg Herald-Journal during the coronavirus outbreak. You can support the Upstate reporters and photographers who are providing this coverage and other outstanding local journalism by becoming a subscriber.

Go here to read the rest:

COVID-19 taking a toll on Spartanburg healthcare workers - Spartanburg Herald Journal

Earlyfearsthat the lives of the56 million Americansliving with a disability would be at risk of disparate care during theCOVID-19pandemic are coming to fruition. The death of a 46-year-old person with a disability from COVID-19 exposes the frightening reality that many people with disabilities live with. If they contract the virus, the provider's disability biases can result in inequitable care.

Last month, Michael Hickson, a 46-year-old man, was refused medical treatment for the virus, and life-sustaining care was removed by medical staff atSt. David's South Austin Medical Center in Texas. Six days later, he died. The fact that Mr. Hickson was a person with a disability was thejustificationhis physician gave.

In May of 2017, Mr. Hickson suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while driving his wife Melissa to work, resulting in brain damage that caused him to lose the ability to move.

I have worked for decades as an occupational therapist with people recovering from brain injuries similar to Mr. Hickson's and vow the majority continue to hold a vital and central role in the lives of spouses and children. I have also witnessed people who recover over an extended period, returning home and participating in everyday activities in ways their medical team thought impossible.

No choice was given to Mr. Hickson's family during the five-minute conversation with his physician describing the hospital's rationale for removing his lifesaving nutrition lines. In astatementon its website St. David describes a court-appointed guardian who had the decision-making power over his family and concluded with medical team collaboration to discontinue care. Astatementby the hospital's CEO describes how ill Mr. Hickson was and the legal processes that gave them the power to make this decision.

The local chapter ofADAPThas worked to expose this action as local and national media attention is inexplicably almost non-existent. This case is slowly gaining recognition only because the familyrecorded the sessionwith the physician and reached out to apro-lifeactivism group to help share their story.

While the nation cries out to expose murders ofBlack livesat the hands of police, there must be an equal outcry for ending disabled lives at the hands of state-appointed guardians. This is especially troubling when family voices are overpowered.

The reasons given for withholding treatment are blatantly and illegally discriminatory under recent federalHHS Office of Civil Rights COVID triage rulings.The rulings explicitly state that crisis standards of care must ensure that the criteria for providing care, including lifesaving care, does not discriminate against persons based on disability and age.Storiesof extreme, extended, and expensive lifesaving approaches for COVID-19 victims are heard daily for people without disability.

There are ethical concepts at conflict regarding the course ofremoving artificial life support technologywhen a person is considered to bebrain dead. There are alsodo-not-resuscitate(DNR) orders informing staff that cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) should not be performed in the event of the death of a person in their care. Neither scenario fits in the case of Mr. Hickson. Before becoming ill, he engaged with his wife and family, and he did not die of natural causes. The hospital, under orders from the state of Texas, withdrew care.

The civil rights rulings from the Department of Health and Human Services specifies that patients who require additional treatment or resources due to age or disability should not be given a lower priority to receive lifesaving care. The Office of Civil Rights of this country is in place to help enforce that all citizens of this country are entitled to the same level of care. BothSection 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973andTitle II of the Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA) of 1990 prohibit health care providers and institutions from discriminating against persons with disabilities in the provision of services based on their disability. This law exists because of historicalabuses and atrocitiesby thestate toward groups of society deemed unworthy. A history that may be repeating itself if Mr. Hickson's incident is, in fact, not an isolated occurrence, which many people with disabilities fear it is not.

If we are at a place in history that we can question and answer who qualifies for care and is selected by the state to die, our country is moving toward a scary future. The lasting effects of COVID-19 may include political and policy changes that emerge that support this type of practice by a provider or state, or condemn it.

Laura VanPuymbrouck, Ph.D., OTR/L, is an assistant professor in the College of Health Sciences atRush University, Chicago, in theDepartment of Occupational Therapy. Her research examines the health care and health disparities of people with disabilities.

Go here to read the rest:

Provider bias in health care | TheHill - The Hill

Data Sits at the Forefront of Improving Patient Experiences

Healthcare, especially now, is continuously evolving to better serve its patients and offer quality care. In recent months, healthcare providers have scaled their telehealth offerings from a mere handful of appointments each week to hundreds of sessions.

Ensuring a positive patient experience with the technology, however, requires more than just a dedicated and well-trained care provider. Thats why healthcare survey respondents (45 percent) cited the importance of redesigning processes to align with new technology and developing an organizationwide strategy to improve patient experiences (42 percent) as top initiatives in the next two years.

Its also worth noting that half of healthcare respondents plan to include the real-time capture of patient feedback on their list of improvements over that time, followed by creating or improving the online experience for patients (48 percent) and providing ways to access information securely from anywhere (47 percent). These investments go hand in hand with what experts recommend for transforming patient telehealth experiences.

And, of course, to make virtual care work seamlessly for patients, healthcare organizations understand theyll need to invest heavily in data and analytics technologies (61 percent), mobile apps (48 percent) and mobile devices (40 percent).

MORE FROM HEALTHTECH: Learn why predictive analytics are critical to better care delivery.

The scale at which telehealth, virtual care and remote work have grown during the pandemic is unprecedented. And supporting and sustaining this type of growth can only be achieved through a modern IT infrastructure.

Its good news, then, that an overwhelming majority of healthcare respondents feel that their organizations current technology infrastructure is either very well aligned (44 percent) or somewhat well aligned (48 percent) with its future vision and goals. In fact, only 8 percent of healthcare individuals responded that theyre not very well aligned.

That preparedness hasnt stopped organizations from looking to the future, though: 46 percent of respondents cited IT cost management as a priority to help them meet their business objectives over the next two years, followed by cloud monitoring/management (45 percent) and developing a long-term IT roadmap (41 percent).

Further supporting healthcares good positioning, respondents in IT roles expect that two years from now, 79 percent of their total IT environments will leverage cloud delivery models, preparing them for anything that might come their way.

Read more:

The IT Investment Priorities Shaping Healthcare Today - HealthTech Magazine

Women more likely to be exposed to virus as they're on front lines

by: Alexandra Limon

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) History shows economic recessions tend to worsen inequities that already exist. Statistics show the pandemic is having a greater impact on women than men.

Congresswoman Dina Titus said the coronavirus recession is just making things worse. Data from the US Labor Department shows women experienced higher unemployment rates than men in April, May and June. Women are also more likely to be exposed to the virus because they tend to work in front line jobs.

Women already make less than men, we know that. And women of color make even less than men, for the same work, for the same amount of time, said Titus, a Nevada Democrat. About two-thirds of health care workers, two-thirds of social workers, also grocery store and fast food workers all are women.

Dr. William Spriggs, the chief economist for the AFL-CIO, said those women are also less likely to have access to proper health care.

A very frightening share of women who show up to work and report that they have symptoms, because they fear losing their job, Spriggs said.

But White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said reopening schools is one way to help women.

Traditional families, too, but single moms who have to work but if the kids are home Kudlow said.

The solution isnt simple.

More than 75% of teachers are women. The Kaiser Family Foundation said one in four teachers may be at risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

See original here:

Pandemic hits women harder in jobs, health care - KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com

UMass Memorial Health Care has announced that it is partnering with a health company in Israel to co-develop a new paradigm designed to prevent avoidable blindness and save lives for high-risk patients.

The Worcester-based health care system is partnering with AEYE Health, based in Tel Aviv, using a grant from the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation to develop the joint product. The Board of Governors of the Israel-U.S. organization have approved $8 million in funding for ten new projects between U.S. and Israeli companies.

UMass Memorial and AEYE Health plan to use advanced machine learning techniques to allow the product to provide an immediate automatic diagnosis from fundus images, meant to be deployed in hospitals and health networks nationwide, UMass Memorial wrote in a statement.

While over a billion people are at high-risk for retinal diseases and need an annual check (>75M in the USA), unfortunately, over 75% are not screened as the interpretation is expensive and impractical, said Dr. Zack Dvey-Aharon, the co-founder and CEO of AEYE Health. Using our system, clinicians can detect a variety of medical conditions and prevent blindness.

The system can provide diagnoses including commonly diagnosed conditions, like diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, or for more systemic issues, like Alzheimers disease, the statement said.

We are truly grateful to receive this funding that will absolutely further and enhance the cause of patient eye care in our region, said Dr. Shlomit Schaal, the chair of the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences at UMass Memorial. This patient-friendly technology empowers clinicians with real-time information that will ultimately lead to timelier and better informed diagnoses.

See more here:

UMass Memorial Health Care and Israeli company to collaborate on new solution to prevent avoidable blindness - MassLive.com

Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, Arizona has become the first state in U.S. history to implement whats known as Crisis Standards of Care, which some refer to as a way of rationing health care. This policy kicks in when a health care system is overwhelmed and expected to be severely impacted for a sustained period of time.

As a patient, or a potential patient, learning that your doctor and hospital system are operating under Crisis Standards of Care can be alarming. Many people believe it could mean that some older people, particularly those who are sickest, will be denied health care resources, such as ventilators, in favor of others.

Heres a Q and A to help address questions you or your loved ones may have about Crisis Standards of Care:

Local and state jurisdictions know that planning in advance for disasters can save lives. During normal operations, health care is a highly regulated and slow-moving system that often can compete for patients. In a pandemic or a disaster, those same characteristics can cost lives.

Crisis Standards of Care plans are a way for hospitals and health care systems to decide in advance how to move faster and work more closely together during a crisis. Their goals are to improve communication, optimize and share resources, including staff, and identify which regulations and standards might need to change to save as many lives as possiblewhen a health care system is overwhelmed.

Also read: Survivors talk about the aftereffects of COVID-19

Crisis Standards of Care plans often have some common elements. These can include:

Triage:A key component of Crisis Standards of Care is that the focus moves from delivering individual patient care to delivering the best care for the patient population. Crisis Standards of Care will often have three stages of triage: at the ambulance level, at the hospital level and at the ICU level. Each stage will assess a patient to see if there is a likelihood that the patient would substantially benefit from the treatment that is available.

Treatments and supplies:Crisis Standards of Care can mean using alternate drugs or devices when shortages occur to save lives. Re-using equipment, such asN95 masks, is also a way to extend scarce supplies.

Liability:Hospitals and health care systems are given broad protection and even qualified immunity from liability during Crisis Standards of Care. In addition to liability protection, there can be financial implications for reimbursing hospitals.

Although Crisis Standards of Care are meant to save the most people possible, it can mean a big change for individuals and their health care needs compared to the traditional approach.

Exactly what Crisis Standards of Care might mean if theyre activated where you live depends on how your state defines them and how the standards would be implemented.

Although Arizona has activated its Crisis Standards of Care, it has not yet implemented triage.

See:Letter from Arizona: Hospitals grapple with a surge in coronavirus cases, while life outside continues as normal

In California, another COVID-19 hotpot, its Crisis Standards of Care guidelines (which have not yet been activated) emphasize equity, including the need to avoid discrimination based on age. The guidelines also state that it is important to avoid resource-allocation decisions that make assumptions about a persons quality of life, which might discriminate against people with disabilities. The guidelines also emphasize the risk of moral distress for the health care team.

When or if California or other states will activate Crisis Standards of Care is unknown. But many states have prepared a crisis plan if theyll need it.

Both Arizona and California have Crisis Standards of Care approaches that encourage using an organ system approach to triage. Its not based on gender, race or many other potentially discriminatory characteristics.

An organ system approach looks at how many organs are impacted, or even failing in a patient, in order to help a health care team decide who might benefit from scarce resources, and who may not.

Some states, like Arizona, use whats known as a SOFA Score, for sequential organ failure assessment. Patients are assigned points according to their SOFA Score, with priority treatment given to people with lower scores.

As a family member, caregiver or a loved one of a patient who is very sick, you may have a doctor or member of the health care team talk to you about how sick your loved one is based on their organ system score. While hearing your loved one discussed in terms of their organs may feel abstract and impersonal, it is important to remember that an organ system approach is our best measure for avoiding discrimination and avoiding making value-based judgments about who gets care.

Doctors, nurses and other health care professionals may be repositioned into roles they would not normally perform. For example, an internal medicine outpatient doctor might be working in an ICU or an emergency room nurse might be assisted by EMTs.

You might be sent somewhere you might not expect, like an alternative care site in a parking lot or a newborn ICU instead of an adult ICU.

Also see: Travelers from four more states added to N.Y.s mandatory quarantine

You may be given something like a home kit with a pulse oximeter to self-monitor until there are signs, like a low oxygen saturation, indicating its time to get more advanced care.

Dont avoid getting health careuntil the last minute. If you do, care that could save your life might not be available because youre at the extreme end of sickness and your organs may be failing.

On the other hand, none of us want to go to a hospital too early or unnecessarily overload a health care system that is already struggling.

The best advice for yourself and your loved ones is to call your clinic and outpatient doctor early if you have a health problem. Stay in communication. You want to make a plan for when symptoms are serious enough to mean it is the best time to get the lifesaving care you need.

Stay home whenever and however you can. Anddont schedule elective procedures or surgeries that can wait. Also, dont do risky things, like cleaning gutters on a shaky ladder.

Right now, we save lives when we avoid getting sick.

Also see: Health officials clamor for U.S. states to pause reopenings amid spikes in COVID-19 infections

When you must go out, wear a mask and stay six feet away from others, wash your hands often. Our health care system needs us to do our part to help those who are sickest.

TheArizona Crisis Standards of Care Planspells out in detail many steps that are being taken.

TheCalifornia Crisis Care Guidelinesare also very detailed, with a significant portion devoted to equity and non-discrimination.

And theU.S. Department of Health and Human Services Guidance on Non-Discriminationcovers rights and expectations.

See the article here:

What you need to know about COVID-19 health care rationing - MarketWatch

Women more likely to be exposed to virus as they're on front lines

by: Alexandra Limon

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) History shows economic recessions tend to worsen inequities that already exist. Statistics show the pandemic is having a greater impact on women than men.

Congresswoman Dina Titus said the coronavirus recession is just making things worse. Data from the US Labor Department shows women experienced higher unemployment rates than men in April, May and June. Women are also more likely to be exposed to the virus because they tend to work in front line jobs.

Women already make less than men, we know that. And women of color make even less than men, for the same work, for the same amount of time, said Titus, a Nevada Democrat. About two-thirds of health care workers, two-thirds of social workers, also grocery store and fast food workers all are women.

Dr. William Spriggs, the chief economist for the AFL-CIO, said those women are also less likely to have access to proper health care.

A very frightening share of women who show up to work and report that they have symptoms, because they fear losing their job, Spriggs said.

But White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said reopening schools is one way to help women.

Traditional families, too, but single moms who have to work but if the kids are home Kudlow said.

The solution isnt simple.

More than 75% of teachers are women. The Kaiser Family Foundation said one in four teachers may be at risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

Visit link:

Pandemic hits women harder in jobs, health care - WAVY.com

BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY) Brunswick County Health Services is reporting the death of two more county resident associated to the novel coronavirus.

The first person was a resident at the Universal Health Care of Brunswick congregate living facility who received a positive test result for COVID-19. The county says the person was considered a person at high risk for severe illness as they were over the age of 65 and had underlying medical conditions.

The second person was an employee at Universal Health Care of Brunswick who had received a positive test result for COVID-19. The person was in the 25-49 year age range and also had pre-existing medical conditions.

This is exceptionally sad news that we have to report today, Chairman Frank Williams said. The commissioners and I extend our condolences to the families and colleagues of these individuals. We remain grateful to those who continue to respond to this pandemic and care for those affected by this virus.

As of Tuesday, Brunswick County has had five active outbreaks at nursing homes or residential care facilities since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, cases involving county residents in general have increased by nearly 620 percent since early June.

Its more important now than ever to stay home and limit your travel as much as possible, even in your home town, Health Services Director Cris Harrelson said. We continue to see cases rise due to social gatherings among people of different households, those who work in higher risk public settings, or that are attributed to community spread.

There are 828 total positive cases of COVID-19 among county residents (377 considered recovered, 428 isolating, 13 hospitalized, 10 deaths) and 14 cases among non-residents (1 isolating in county, 8 considered recovered, 3 transferred monitoring to home county, 2 deaths).

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Resident and employee at Universal Health Care of Brunswick dies from COVID-19 - WWAY NewsChannel 3

LAKE FOREST, Ill, & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OMRON Healthcare, Inc., the global leader in personal heart health and wellness technology, and Mount Sinai Health System, New York Citys largest academic medical system, have teamed together to offer patients the new VitalSight home blood pressure monitoring solution. Mount Sinai recently rolled out the VitalSight program to support the needs of their patients with hypertension.

Were excited to collaborate with such a prestigious healthcare institution as Mount Sinai, who played an instrumental role in shaping the value of VitalSight from early in its development. Now, they are leading the way for patients to use VitalSight from the privacy of their home, while staying closely connected to their physician, explained OMRON Healthcare President and CEO Ranndy Kellogg.

VitalSight is the newest addition to the comprehensive line of OMRON Healthcare home blood pressure monitors (the #1 doctor and pharmacist recommended brand1,2) designed to advance the companys mission of Going for Zero the elimination of heart attack and stroke. The VitalSight kit complements Mount Sinais commitment to remotely monitor patients as part of its recent telehealth initiative, especially as providers care for COVID-19 patients who are recovering at home.

The effort to provide VitalSight to patients is led by Dr. Rob Fields, SVP and Chief Medical Officer for Population Health at Mount Sinai, and a dedicated team of clinical pharmacists, who are responsible for the day-to-day management of the program and coordination with physicians to ensure that patients receive individualized care. The ability to monitor patients at home during the pandemic and on an ongoing basis is critical. Our collaboration with OMRON Healthcare helps make patients active participants in their own health care and extends the reach of clinicians, who receive a continuous stream of their patients real-time health data so that they can proactively intervene as necessary, he said. Additionally, we are focusing first on our most vulnerable patients, who bear the consequences of disparities in care in part, due to lack of technology access. This program requires no technology and comes at no cost for the device, with little-to-no cost for service.

1Frost & Sullivan Survey, Blood pressure clinician perception tracker surveys. 17 July 2019.2 U.S. News Staff 2019, U.S. News & World Report <https://health.usnews.com/health-products/top-rec-blood-pressure-monitors-14>, accessed 8 August 2019.

VitalSight is a HIPAA-compliant, Medicare-reimbursable home blood pressure monitoring solution that generally comes at no cost to the patient, depending on their coverage. The kit typically includes a digital blood pressure monitor with cuff, weight scale and digital medication tracker, as well as a data hub. Exact devices may vary based on what the physician deems appropriate for each patients hypertension monitoring needs. VitalSight directly links to a physicians Electronic Medical Record (EMR), and is compatible with leading systems. Patients measure their blood pressure, weigh themselves and continue to take their medication as ordered by their physician. Securely encrypted data is automatically sent to the doctors EMR in real time, where its stored for reference unless a health concern is detected, in which case the physicians office is alerted.

For more information, please visit http://www.omronhealthcare.com and http://www.mountsinai.org.

About OMRON Healthcare, Inc.

OMRON Healthcare, Inc., is the worlds leading manufacturer and distributor of personal heart health and wellness products. Its market-leading products include a full-range of home blood pressure monitors and pain management devices. Since OMRON invented its first blood pressure monitors more than 40 years ago, the company has been passionate about empowering people to take charge of their health at home through precise technology. OMRON is the number one doctor and pharmacist recommended brand of blood pressure monitors for home use. The companys mission is Going for Zero, the elimination of heart attacks and strokes. For more information, visit OmronHealthcare.com and follow OMRON Healthcare on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest academic medical system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai is a national and international source of unrivaled education, translational research and discovery, and collaborative clinical leadership ensuring that we deliver the highest quality carefrom prevention to treatment of the most serious and complex human diseases. The Health System includes more than 7,200 physicians and features a robust and continually expanding network of multispecialty services, including more than 400 ambulatory practice locations throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 14 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of the Top 20 Best Hospitals in the country and the Icahn School of Medicine as one of the Top 20 Best Medical Schools in country. Mount Sinai Health System hospitals are consistently ranked regionally by specialty and our physicians in the top 1% of all physicians nationally by U.S. News & World Report. For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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OMRON Healthcare and Mount Sinai Health System Collaborate to Help High-Risk Patients Monitor Their Blood Pressure from Home with VitalSight -...

NATCHEZ Mississippi State Department of Health reported 862 new confirmed COVID-19 cases statewide and 23 new deaths on Tuesday.

Local officials said local COVID-19 numbers are pushing the limits of an overwhelmed healthcare workers and testing supplies are becoming more limited.

Adams Countys numbers as of Tuesdays statewide report were at 388 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 20 deaths.

Mississippis total of COVID-19 cases since March 11 now stands at 37,542 with 1,272 deaths.

Adams County had 71 active COVID-19 cases in the county as of Monday, said Neifa Hardy, liason officer for the Adams County Emergency Management Agency.

Hardys report came during Mondays meeting of the Natchez COVID-19 Task Force where members reported high numbers of cases in recent weeks.

Our positivity rate for Adams County is holding at approximately 17% compared to the Mississippi rate of 11%, said Norma Williams who tracks COVID-19 numbers for the Natchez COVID-19 Task Force. Please keep in mind the positivity rates that we are reporting will always be understated because the denominator or total testing in Adams County may include people who live in neighboring counties. Therefore, Merit Healths positivity rate would be more accurate. We are just providing this kind of as a reference as a bottom threshold.

Williams said that over the past seven days, July 5 through the July 11, Adams County had an additional 41 new cases bringing the countys total to 351 for a 13% increase.

Also, of the 124 new cases over the past 21 days thats June 21 through July 11 41 of those cases were over the past week, July 5 through July 11, Williams said. On July 8 we had 17 new cases matching our July 4 of 17 new cases and just under our record high of 18 cases on June 8. Keep in mind since our data is on a one-day lag we had another seven new cases reported by the Mississippi department of health, which brings our revised total to 358 cases.

Williams reported two new deaths in Adams County over the seven-day period, which represents an 11% increase over the prior week.

Likewise, Concordia Parish had 30 new cases for a total of 147 or a 26% increase over that same seven-day period July 5 through the 11th. Also, of the 46 new cases over the past 21 days in Concordia Parish 30 of those cases were over the past week alone, Williams said. Concordia also had an additional four new cases reported yesterday (Sunday) from their Louisiana Department of Health bringing their revised total to 151 cases.

Concordia Parish reported another new death and now has a total of nine deaths, Williams said.

Task Force Chairman Dr. Lee England said he is currently caring for numerous COVID-19 patients and the area Mississippi State Department of Health workers are overwhelmed in conducting contact tracings for individuals exposed to COVID in the nine county area comprising the MSDHs District 7 that includes Adams County.

They can do 50 per day but they have got a load of 300 to do and that is as of Friday, England said. They are getting overwhelmed.

England said it is important for people to wear masks to help curtail the spread of COVID-19.

It appears to me to really have a functioning economy in this environment, everybody is going to have to wear the masks and if we dont we will falter with the economy because of employees that have to be quarantined and cases that take people out of work and nothing will function, England said. That becomes increasingly important now.

The alternative is to face another lockdown similar to the one enacted earlier in the year.

A lockdown works, England said. Weve seen that but nobody wants that. On the other hand if things get really bad people will lock themselves down even without a government order. They will be scared enough to not want to go out.

Merit Health Natchez CEO Lance Boyd said the hospital as of Monday the hospital had 10 COVID-19 patients.

Last Monday we had six patients with COVID positive in the hospital and it quickly rose to eight and then 11 and then 13 in sequential days and it started to drop back to 11, then 10 and currently today (Monday) we have 10 patients and no patients on the ventilator are related to COVID, Boyd said. We did transfer two out this weekend from the ER that were positive. We sent those to high-level care. They had some pretty serious other issues going on but currently we sit at 10.

Boyd said Merit has several staff members who are out after having tested positive for COVID-19.

It may or may not be because of their work environment, Boyd said. As best we can tell in the general community it is growing like crazy so these folks may or may not be getting it at work. Regardless they are not able to work once they contract it.

Boyd reiterated that the original lockdown in March was in part to keep the hospitals from getting overwhelmed.

we knew there was a finite amount of resources, Boyd said. Southwest Hospital in McComb has been on diversion since last week, meaning they are not taking any additional patients because they had a numerous amount of nurses who were out with COVID and they did not have the staff to take care of the patients that needed the help.

Merit is now seeing many patients that would have gone to the McComb hospital now come to Natchez.

Once McComb gets shutdown then the patients are rerouted here, then to Brookhaven, Boyd said. You can see how that can overwhelm the system. Employee cases are a concern. Not just that they can catch it here but they can catch it at the market as well.

Boyd said MSDH issued a notice on Friday to suspend elective medical procedures because of increased hospitalizations across the state.

If it is an elective procedure, meaning it is elective and not urgent, they have been suspended again, Boyd said. They are going to look at that again on July 20 to see where the curve is but that is just one change that has happened there.

Boyd said COVID testing supplies are low at the hospital and they are no longer testing asymptomatic people.

Boyd said the hospital with 10 COVID-19 patients is not at capacity for COVID-19 patients.

The most we have had at any one time here is 19 and that was back in April but we had nine on the ventilators at that time so it is hard to put a number on it, but we do know if we doubled our numbers right now that would be a very stressful almost a fracture point for us because the staff is worn out, Boyd said. They have been doing this since March and it is not a pleasant environment to have to dress down and dress out so that is the real challenge. The staff is worn out.

More details of COVID-19 in the state, along with preventive steps to take against coronavirus and statewide testing locations, are online athttp://HealthyMS.com/covid-19.

The Mississippi Coronavirus Hotline is the best way to get your questions about COVID-19 answered. Call 877-978-6453 from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week.

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Local health care workers overwhelmed as COVID-19 numbers grow - Mississippi's Best Community Newspaper | Mississippi's Best Community Newspaper -...

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented shift in the way consumers view and access a variety of goods and servicesand healthcare is no exception. Recent studies show that many patients, including vulnerable populations like those living with cancer (PDF), are delaying recommended care and proceduresand will continue to do so for at least several months amid fears over the safety of in-person visits. In response, reports of providers adapting to offer care virtually are all the more commonplace, with almost half of physicians now treating patients through telemedicine platforms, up from just 18% in 2018.

These trends have solidified virtual care as a mainstay, and, as a result, the virtual visit has become a commoditya service that can be provided by many capable vendors. However, the logistics that power the adoption of virtual care are often overlooked. As healthcare administrators turn to telemedicine to resume non-urgent healthcare services, we must ensure that best-in-class technology solutions are utilized to improve the virtual care experiencefor providers, clinical staff and, importantly, patients.

Health systems and their networks face significant operational issues when delivering care in a remote setting due to the range of potential interactions and diversity of devicesadding to the already recognized administrative burden that comes with routine patient care. With each patient visit comes over a dozen manual tasks, including patient intake and registration, in-visit clinical note writing as well as back-office billing and claims processing. The virtual visit adds even more steps, such as helping patients access the appropriate technology for a two-way video interface or sending custom links to a virtual waiting room at the right time.

On-Demand Webinar: Using Secure Patient Communications for Curbside Check-In

Learn how healthcare organizations are using virtual check-in to deliver patient-centric experiences that are safe, convenient and secure. Watch this 30-minute on-demand webinar to learn more.

Facilitating a seamless virtual care experience before, during and after a patients visit should be top of mindparticularly as patient expectations have heightened and healthcare has progressed toward a technology-enabled future. Fortunately, the automation of operational workflows can help healthcare administrators smooth the friction around conducting virtual visits at scale.

Intelligent automation extends our capacity in healthcare by enabling us to do more with the same workforce and technology infrastructure. In fact, digital medical assistants can use artificial intelligence to automate repetitive, cognitively tiring and error-prone tasks. This technology can support the influx of virtual visits by offloading administrative processes such as co-payment collection, clinical documentation and pre-population of common clinical orders.

For patients not as familiar with digital interactions and the variety of telemedicine modalities, which can include platforms like Amwell, Doctor on Demand and Teladoc or video conference solutions like RingCentral and Zoom, participating in virtual visits can be a daunting change. Additional technological challenges associated with virtual care can result in heightened frustration, increased no-show rates or decreased activation, so maintaining patient engagement throughout the patient journey is even more important in a virtual environment. Digital medical assistants can automate appointment reminders, offer detailed setup guidance for patients and provide just-in-time virtual visit links to ensure patients and providers can make the most of their time together.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also introduced new variables and risks that patients, providers and healthcare institutions at large must consider when seeking and delivering care. Until recently, it was a relatively straightforward process to determine where a patient should receive routine care. Now, given the risk of disease spread, providers find themselves considering which patients to see, when to see them and whether to see them virtually or in person. This creates additional complexity in determining when to schedule patients and in which medium to conduct the visit. Platforms that leverage intelligent automation can help clinical teams prescreen all scheduled patients, collect a thorough medical history, intelligently segment patients into risk cohorts and triage each cohort to an individualized destination, be it a return to in-person care or a virtual environment.

In the virtual exam room, things also look a little different. From the providers perspective, one of the oft-cited drawbacks of virtual visits is the limited ability to measure vital signs, perform a physical exam or order point-of-care diagnostics. At-home diagnostics, wearable devices and remote patient monitoring tools allow providers to collect continuous clinical data that can be gathered asynchronously and quickly, resulting in a more comprehensive picture of a patients health. Further, platforms that use intelligent automation algorithms to organize data collected across the care continuum can parse these data streams to identify at-risk patients and then automate outreach and care management to follow clinical care pathways.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given us a unique opportunity to reimagine healthcare using a modern suite of technology for patients, providers and staff that does away with outdated and inefficient processes. But we also have a responsibility to replace them with solutions that improve digital experiences by supporting patients before visits, automating repetitive workflows and parsing large amounts of data to support clinical decision-making.

Combining intelligent automation with virtual visits creates a powerful tool to efficiently manage patient populations and offer an experience that feels intuitive, while enabling healthcare systems to do more with less. By accelerating the digital transformation of healthcare today, we can position ourselves for a future of increased capacity, decreased overhead and improved quality.

Muthu Alagappan, M.D., is an attending physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, a trained engineer and medical director at Notable Health, a healthcare experience automation company.

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Industry VoicesVirtually or in person, automation improves the healthcare experience - FierceHealthcare

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Healthcare Ready today announced it has recently received financial contributions from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), The AmerisourceBergen Foundation, the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the PhRMA Foundation to support its work responding to identified needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a national nonprofit organization, Healthcare Ready strengthens healthcare supply chains through collaboration with public health and private sectors by addressing pressing issues before, during, and after disasters.

We are extremely grateful for the generous funding provided by the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, AmerisourceBergen Foundation, PhRMA and PhRMAs Foundation that will enable us to expand our multi-faceted COVID-19 pandemic response efforts, said Nicolette Louissaint, PhD, executive director of Healthcare Ready. Now more than ever, we need to work closely with our partners on the frontlines, readying the healthcare supply chain to respond to and recover from disruptions caused by the impact of this novel coronavirus, and these grants allow us to maintain that steady strain of support, especially in hard-hit communities.

Grant and donation details:

Were pleased to support expansion of Healthcare Readys COVID-19 response as they work with their partners on the frontlines, readying the healthcare supply chain to respond to and recover from disruptions in the communities where they serve, said Sally Ray, director of strategic initiatives at the Center for Disaster Philanthropy. Healthcare Readys mission is a critical component of our nations health and wellbeing and were grateful for their unwavering dedication and commitment.

We recognize that complex healthcare challenges like COVID-19 require true partnerships at every level. To maximize the impact of our Foundation, it was critical to work with an organization like Healthcare Ready that would allow us to work hand-in-hand in order to expand access to quality care and truly improve the wellbeing of our patient populations, said Gina Clark, President of the AmerisourceBergen Foundation. Supporting Healthcare Ready aligns with our commitment to make a difference in our communities, especially during this time of unprecedented uncertainty.

PhRMA and the PhRMA Foundation are proud to be long-time supporters of Healthcare Ready, said Eileen Cannon of PhRMA Foundation. Its a one-of-a-kind organization that has the unique ability to leverage its relationships with the healthcare supply chain, patient organizations, and providers to address current needs and protect patient access to medicine in times of crisis, whether its a natural disaster or health pandemic.

Since January, we have been supporting the nations COVID-19 response and that experience has given us valuable insight into what is needed most among the communities that need us most, said Louissaint. This timely, outcomes-based support from these organizations will enable Healthcare Ready to continue to provide meaningful contributions to our healthcare supply chain to help prepare and steady the populations that need it most.

About Healthcare Ready

Healthcare Ready is a preparedness and response nonprofit organization that helps to strengthen healthcare supply chains through collaboration with public health and private sectors by addressing pressing issues before, during, and after disasters. As a convener of industry and government, the organization safeguards patient health by providing solutions to critical problems and best practices for healthcare preparedness and response. For more information, visit http://www.healthcareready.org.

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Healthcare Ready Receives Grants and Donations to Bolster COVID-19 Response - Business Wire

State officials presented to the Senate on Wednesday $233 million in proposed cuts from the health care budget that will slash key programs for low-income Nevadans and significantly pare back mental health services to ease a budget crisis caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Many of the proposed cuts will roll back initiatives spearheaded by lawmakers and the Department of Health and Human Services over the last few legislative sessions in an effort to improve health care in the state, which ranks among the worst in the nation. Health officials also plan to sweep dollars from existing accounts, such as one fueled by tobacco settlement dollars, to help make up the budget shortfall.

The recommended reductions to the Department of Health and Human Services budget will, if approved, make up nearly 20 percent of the $1.2 billion shortfall projected by the governors office and more than 42 percent of the proposed $549 million in agency rate reductions.

The K-12 general fund budget which represents about 34.9 percent of total general fund spending, slightly more than the 33.5 percent that Health and Human Services comprises faces proposed cuts of about $166 million.

The proposed health care cuts come as the Department of Health and Human Services continues to play an integral role in the states response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Richard Whitley, the departments director, noted in his budget presentation the difficulty of cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in health services most of which go toward supporting the most vulnerable Nevadans in the middle of a global pandemic.

What is being identified here is were delivering direct services in one hand in a crisis and were having to reduce down our spend with the other hand, Whitley said. I am doing the best I can at doing that with the least amount of harm possible, but there will be harm, and Im not here to say that peoples lives wont be impacted by these proposed reductions.

Medicaid

The most significant cuts, $140.4 million, will come to the states Medicaid program, which has seen a 9 percent increase in its caseload since February as Nevadans lost their jobs and turned to the state for health insurance. No Nevadans will lose their Medicaid coverage as a result of the budget cuts in part because of a mandate from the federal government that states not terminate anyone from the program in order to receive additional federal matching dollars but the state is planning to limit or eliminate the services they can receive.

For instance, Medicaid plans to eliminate 12 services deemed optional by the federal government, to the tune of $18.7 million in savings. Those services include optometry, tenancy support, occupational therapy, basic skills training and psychosocial rehabilitation benefits that both lawmakers and state health officials noted Medicaid enrollees rely on and arent going to be able to get elsewhere.

The framework of mandatory versus optional is not, I mean its almost embarrassing to use those terms because theyre only relevant to a federal congressional act in terms of what governs Medicaid, not to the people who do need the health care service, Whitley said. So I do know that we will have impacts on people and their lives may be worsened by these services being eliminated. I cant quantify that for you today. I just know I have limited spaces to go to make the reduction in our general fund spend.

Medicaid has also proposed a 6 percent across the board rate decrease for all services, which will save the state $53 million, and eliminate hard-fought rate increases approved by the Legislature during the 2019 session for acute hospital services, neonatal and pediatric intensive care services and personal care services, a savings of about $12.4 million. Hospitals waged a long, public campaign for their increases and, along with doctors and other providers, have long argued that Medicaid rates overall in Nevada arent high enough as is.

Suzanne Bierman, Medicaid administrator, pointed to a Kaiser Family Foundation report that shows that Nevada has one of the highest Medicaid-to-Medicare ratios compared to other states,

Nevada Hospital Association CEO Bill Welch, during a public comment session Wednesday evening, said the cuts will cost Nevada hospitals more than $100 million a year in payments, with hospitals spending another $500 million on uncompensated care.

Medicaid additionally plans to eliminate adult dental and limit dental services for pregnant women and children, limit physical therapy for adults to 12 sessions and eliminate certain duplicative hospice services from being provided in the home, for a total savings of $30.2 million. Remaining savings will come from delaying risk mitigation payments to managed care organizations, the private insurers paid by the state to provide Medicaid services.

Medicaid could see an additional $30 million in savings should the federal government extend the enhanced federal matching rate through the end of the year, a decision that doesnt have to be made until July 25. Officials are hoping to delay implementation of the Medicaid changes to Oct. 1, at which point they would have more information about their funding situation.

Whitley, asked where Medicaid would put the extra $30 million, said that it was a difficult question to answer.

Doing math on the page may be simple for budgetary people, but does turning something down really amount to turning it off? Does reducing the rate lose providers? Whitley said. The nuance of all of that would be considered and well work day and night to provide if resources become available.

Public and behavioral health

Another $19.1 million in cuts have been proposed to public and behavioral health care programs in the state, with the majority coming from the Southern and Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services agencies.

Some of the savings will be achieved by freezing hiring vacant positions within both mental health agencies. But Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services also plans to stop providing residential services to 270 people, referring them instead to other organizations, such as Catholic Charities and Share Village, unless they receive additional funding through the federal CARES Act.

The state has shifted the way it provides mental health services over the past several years, putting the emphasis on enrolling people in Medicaid and directing them to private providers, instead of having the state directly provide services. But Sen. Julia Ratti noted during the hearing that stripping back direct mental health dollars, coupled with the cuts to Medicaid, could essentially mean the state will only be providing mental health services to its prison population.

With the cuts that were talking about here, and then you pair those with the cuts to substance use treatment and mental health that we talked about in the Medicaid budget, and then you overlay housing, and the tenancy support I feel like maybe were reverting back to a place where if you really need behavioral health services, you almost have to be part of the criminal justice to access them, Ratti said. It feels like we're heading towards a perfect storm.

Lisa Sherych, administrator of the Division of Public and Behavioral Health, agreed.

These are extremely difficult decisions to make, Sherych said, choking up. I was very hopeful that this next session was going to be a great one based on last session. So, yes, our focus is primarily going to be the justice-involved population.

Other cuts to public and behavioral health will come in the form of $1.6 million in cuts to rural clinics, in the form of deferred start dates for staff, $1.5 million in tobacco prevention dollars approved last session, $1.6 million in problem gambling dollars and $2.3 million in sweeps from other funds.

Aging and disability services

State officials plan to find another $30.2 million by freezing caseloads for some of its Aging and Disability Services programs, including, notably, its Autism Treatment and Assistance Program, to the tune of about $5.7 million in savings.

The Legislature appropriated $17.4 million toward the program last session, including funds to reduce a roughly 800-child backlog in a program that was only serving about 200 children. Now, the program has 892 children enrolled in it, with 191 on the waitlist but those levels would be frozen under a proposed budget cut, though children will still be moved into the program at its current capacity as children age out or move.

Three other programs will also have their caseloads capped, including supported living arrangement services, which provide residential support to people so they can live in a community-based setting. The division has also proposed deferring a provide rate increase for SLAs, reducing payments for other programs, freezing vacant positions, eliminating travel and training and deferring maintenance on facilities.

Other cuts

Another $18.4 million in savings will come from Director Whitleys office, including $1.5 million of the $6 million in family planning dollars lawmakers appropriated in the 2019 session. The remainder will come from funds swept from the Healthy Nevada Fund, which was set up with tobacco settlement dollars to fund certain health grants.

The Division of Welfare and Supportive Services plans to contribute another $15.7 million in budget reductions, primarily through funding the salary cost for eligibility workers through December through the federal CARES Act, about $14 million in general fund savings. The rest is proposed to come from a reduced general fund match in child support and other administrative changes.

The Division of Child and Family Services will be responsible for the rest of the budget reductions, about $9.4 million. The majority of that, $5.1 million, will come from changes to child welfare, including a reduction in funds to incentivize Clark and Washoe counties to innovate their child welfare funding streams. Another $3.7 million will come from freezing 53 vacant juvenile correction positions and reducing the number of beds at juvenile correction facilities from 224 to 160.

Even with the reduction, Ross Armstrong, the divisions administrator, said that there should be enough beds to meet the needs, with an average daily census for calendar year 2019 of 157.

Across the country now for about the last decade, there's been a big push in reducing the number of young people we have locked up in correctional air, and that has occurred in Nevada as well, Armstrong said. We made sure we didn't cut the funding to the counties that work on the prevention work, we didn't cut parole, who does the aftercare to prevent them from going back into the facility, and we also maintained all of our children's mental health beds.

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After years of incremental health care reform, more than $200 million in budget cuts threaten to turn back time - The Nevada Independent

Several advocacy groups on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over its decision to remove transgender protections from the Affordable Care Act.

Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth; Callen-Lorde Community Health Center; Campaign for Southern Equality; Equality California; Fenway Health and the Transgender Emergency Fund are plaintiffs in the lawsuit the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Transgender Law Center, the National Womens Law Center, the Harvard Law Schools Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation and the private law firm Hogan Lovells filed on their behalf in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on behalf of the LGBTQ organizations. Darren Lazor, a trans man who lives near Cleveland, is also named as a plaintiff.

The Obamaadministration under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act determineddiscrimination based on sex applied to trans people. The U.S. Department ofHealth and Human Services on June 12 announced the Trump administrations planto reverse the rule had been made final.

The U.S.Supreme Court three days later ruled Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964bans employment discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

A pressrelease that announced the lawsuit notes the reversal of the Affordable CareAct policy violates the Administrative Procedures Act by being contraryto law and arbitrary and capricious.

I have experiencedfeeling like a doctor doesnt care if I live or die which is justshameful, said Lazor in the press release. No one should be denied life-saving health care or bediscriminated against the way I have simply because of who they are. I hopethat sharing my story can help others understand that transgender people arewho we are, and we deserve to be treated fairly under the law.

Equality California ExecutiveDirector Rick Chavez Zbur added rippinghealthcare away from millions of Americans is wrong; to do so in the middle ofa global health crisis is just plain evil.

As long as President Trump keeps attacking transgender people like Darren and other LGBTQ+ Equality California members simply because of who they are, well keep fighting the Administration in court, he said.

The Human Rights Campaign and the D.C.-based law firm Baker Hostetler have filed a separate lawsuit against the policys rescission in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on behalf of two trans women of color. Lambda Legal has also challenged the Trump administrations decision in federal court.

Continued here:

Trump administration sued again over rescission of transgender health care protections - Washington Blade

BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY) Brunswick County Health Services is reporting the death of an eighth county resident associated to the novel coronavirus.

The person was a resident at the Universal Health Care of Brunswick congregate living facility who received a positive test result for COVID-19. According to heath officials, the person was considered a person at high risk for severe illness as they were over the age of 65 and had underlying medical conditions.

This is the fourth positive resident at the congregate care facility to COVID-19 related death.

It is difficult to hear that we have lost another county resident to this virus, and we extend our condolences to those affected by this loss, Chairman Frank Williams said.

As of July 10, the county says there are 751 positive cases of COVID-19 among county residents (354 considered recovered, 377 isolating at 304 households, 12 hospitalized, 8 deaths) and 14 cases among non-residents (1 isolating in county, 8 considered recovered, 3 transferred monitoring to home county, 2 deaths).

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4th resident at Universal Health Care of Brunswick dies from COVID-19 - WWAY NewsChannel 3

Gaylord Specialty Healthcare announced this week that it had begun using a new technology from Patho3Gen Solutions to disinfect shoes during the pandemic. Here, Kristelle Caslangen, RN, uses the device.

Gaylord Specialty Healthcare announced this week that it had begun using a new technology from Patho3Gen Solutions to disinfect shoes during the pandemic. Here, Kristelle Caslangen, RN, uses the device.

Gaylord Specialty Healthcare announced this week that it had begun using a new technology from Patho3Gen Solutions to disinfect shoes during the pandemic. Here, Kristelle Caslangen, RN, uses the device.

Gaylord Specialty Healthcare announced this week that it had begun using a new technology from Patho3Gen Solutions to disinfect shoes during the pandemic. Here, Kristelle Caslangen, RN, uses the device.

Wallingford health care provider begins using new shoe disinfection technology amid pandemic

WALLINGFORD Gaylord Specialty Healthcare announced this week that it had begun using a new technology to disinfect peoples shoes, as it takes further safety measures amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Officials said the organization was the first in New England to implement UVZone shoe disinfection technology from Florida-based PathO3Gen Solutions as part of an ongoing effort to protect patient and staff safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sanitation system uses an exclusive and multi-patented combination of Ozone and UVC light to eliminate the vast majority of pathogens, including any coronavirus residue on footwear in eight seconds, Gaylord officials said.

It was paid for through a $35,000 grant from The Greater New Haven COVID-19 Community Fund, a joint effort from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and the United Way, officials said.

With the CDC recommendation that all persons disinfect shoe soles before walking out of areas with COVID-19 patients, obtaining the best form of protection for our staff and patients was a priority for Gaylord, said Dr. Stephen Holland, chief medical officer of Gaylord Specialty Healthcare. We are appreciative to the Greater New Haven COVID-19 Community Fund for making this a reality.

In the announcement, PathO3Gen Solutions said it was pleased to see its product put to use.

The goal of PathO3Gen Solutions is to prevent infections and save lives by creating cleaner and safer environments. There is nothing more rewarding for us than seeing our UVZone shoe disinfection technology on the ground, when and where it really matters the most, said Scott Beal, chief operating officer of PathO3Gen Solutions.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com

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Wallingford health care provider begins using new shoe disinfection technology amid pandemic - New Haven Register

WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly introduced legislation Thursday that would extend paid leave to health-care workers and offer liability protections to hospitals and other medical providers from certain lawsuits during the COVID-19 emergency declaration.

When the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act was enacted, it exempted hospitals and other health-care facilities from the requirement to offer paid leave to health-care workers because the extent to which the pandemic would affect thehealth system was not yet known and the country needed its health-care workers on the job, according to a news release from Kellys office announcing the new legislation.

Kellys legislation House Resolution 7538, the Essential Workforce Parity Act would provide leave to health-care workers who contract COVID-19, the cost for which is eligible for reimbursement by the federal government under FFCRA. In addition, it would also offer specific targeted legal protections to health-care providers while they grapple with the complexity of treating COVID-19 patients.

Our doctors and nurses are on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic risking their own health to treat the worst cases of COVID-19,said Kelly, R-16 Pa.The Essential Workforce Parity Act will guarantee that our health care heroes are treated fairly if they get sick while also ensuring their primary focus can be on helping patients, not fighting lawsuits.

The legislation received support in whole or in part from two key organizations, the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania and the Health Coalition on Liability Access.

Pennsylvania hospitals first priority is the safety of health-care workers and the patients they treat. This is especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Andy Carter, president and CEO of HAP. During these difficult times where the situation and guidance is constantly changing we must allow health-care workers and facilities to focus on caring for every patient who needs care rather than worrying about the threat of meritless lawsuits.

HCLA specifically endorsed Section 3 of H.R. 7538. The limited and targeted protection from liability provided by Section 3 will help ensure that health-care professionals and facilities on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic can focus on helping patients without fear of getting drawn into unwarranted lawsuits, the organization said in a letter.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.

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Kelly Looks to Extend Paid Leave to Health-Care Workers - businessjournaldaily.com