This week’s top healthcare news
Midwest health system merger announced.
Advocate Aurora Health and Beaumont Health announced their intentions to merge this week. The merger would create a whopping $17.5 billion Midwest health system juggernaut with a large footprint in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois.
- Of course, the merger is subject to regulatory approval. Hospital mergers in particular have been scrutinize much more heavily as of late. Read more about the deal here.
Video games as prescriptions.
Hold the Adderall – this week, the FDA approved the first-ever video game – or, as they call it, ‘digital therapeutic’ – to help kids with ADHD.
- Instead of prescribing drugs to help kids focus, the video game aims to provide ‘medicine through entertainment’ and might even lead to an entirely new category of medical devices. Read more about the groundbreaking innovation here.
The nursing home conundrum.
Nursing homes are evicting low-income (AKA, Medicaid) patients – called patient dumping – to make room for coronavirus patients.
WTF? Yeah, I know. Since the pandemic dried up new patients, nursing homes opted to take in coronavirus patients instead and receive a $600/day bonus for doing so.
- But in some instances, to make room for the new coronavirus patients, the low-income individuals are getting the boot – often to unsafe environments. Read the full NY Times investigation here.
For some reason, nursing homes, which take care of elderly people, have been a popular destination for receiving overflow COVID patients.
- With the continued wave of deaths in long term care facilities, many are advocating for a change to the system altogether.
The return of elective care.
National hospital operator Tenet Healthcare held an investor day this week. Surprisingly, in the presentation Tenet reported that its admissions had bounced back to 90% of pre-COVID levels.
- This sort of resurgence seems to be largely consistent industry-wide, too. As patients return to the hospital, everyone is getting more comfortable with the idea of a fully-fledged elective care comeback.
Coronavirus.
The latest numbers: 9 million infected, 468k deaths globally. 2.4 million infected, 122k deaths in the U.S.
What you need to know: The WHO reported the largest single day increase in cases globally. Cases are on the rise in the south, but deaths continue to fall.
- Some possible reasons for this: better medical care, younger people are getting infected, and at-risk individuals are protecting themselves. Fauci is worried about a large resurgence if states don’t adhere to safety guidelines.
More things to know.
Cautiously good news came from an Oxford University press release this week. Dexamethasone, a generic and widely available drug, seems to reduce deaths in severe (AKA, ventilator needed) cases by a third.
- Read the news release here. Notably, the University received some slack after sending out this news in a press release rather than first releasing it as a scientific paper. Read more about the sitch here.
How deadly is the coronavirus? Scientists are close to an answer. (TL;DR between 0.5 and 1.0%)
Any developed vaccine will be free for those that can’t afford it.
NBA players will start wearing the smart Oura ring to track potential COVID symptoms. The ring has been known to detect other sicknesses sometimes days in advance.
- In fact, smart sensors in general may help combat disease outbreaks.
Quick Hits
Biz Hits
- Private equity firm Vivaris Capital wants to create a chain of cancer centers based on the federal ‘Right to Try’ law.
- Apple still has a lot of runway in healthcare.
- Hospital and physician spending reached its lowest point in more than a decade in the month of April. Many providers and health systems are still experiencing big-time losses, and some are predicting over a year before revenue returns to pre-COVID levels.
State Hits
- Idaho just made its telehealth expansions permanent.
Other Hits
- Ezekiel Elliott made headlines this week by tweeting out “HIPAA?” after reporters announced that he had tested positive for COVID. Does anyone face legal ramifications for this? I personally find this hilarious.
Thought-Provoking Editorials
- The promise and peril of virtual healthcare. (New Yorker)
- Can the adult film industry teach us how to be safe from the coronavirus? (Stat)
Healthy Muse Top Picks
- Inside the Trump administration’s decision to leave the WHO. (ProPublica)
- It’s time to rethink the institutional model for elderly care. (Undark)
- How GoodRx built a $2.8 billion business by helping consumers find drug discounts. (CNBC)
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