CDC Advisory Panel Giving Incorrect Advice For Stopping Hospital Infections: Experts

CIDRAP:
Experts Say CDC Not Getting Right Advice On Hospital Infection Prevention

This week hundreds of industrial hygienists, healthcare worker union reps, epidemiologists, and aerosol scientists plan to send a second letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), asking the agency to hold public meetings to discuss the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee’s (HICPAC’s) proposal to update the CDC’s Isolation Precautions guidance, last updated in 2007. A proposal from HICPAC, a federal advisory committee, will become the standard for hospital safety practices across the country, setting infection control protocols for a variety of pathogens in different healthcare scenarios. (Soucheray, 9/19)

More health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare:
NCQA’s 2023 Health Plan Ratings Include HEDIS Measure

Most insurers scored high on an equity measure included for the first time as a part of the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s 2023 health plan ratings. The measure, which comes from the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) and assesses industry preparedness to address disparities and care gaps, asks health plans whether they can report any data stratified by their members’ race and ethnicity. (Devereaux, 9/19)

Axios:
Medicare Advantage Ads Will Look Different This Fall

A new analysis finds more than 25% of Medicare Advantage television ads last year used images evoking government Medicare cards — a tactic that’s now forbidden under a federal crackdown on misleading advertising in the program. (Goldman, 9/20)

NBC News:
Unlicensed New York Acupuncturist Accused Of Causing Patient’s Lungs To Collapse

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz charged Yong De Lin, 66, with four counts of reckless endangerment, unauthorized practice of a profession, and assault in the first and second degree. “The difference between receiving health care from a competent, licensed professional or someone who is unlicensed can mean the difference between life and death,” Katz said in a news release announcing the charges. She said Lin did not even bother to apply for the required state licensure. (Kainz, 9/20)

In corporate developments —

Modern Healthcare:
Bright Health Group, CMS Reach Risk-Adjustment Shortfall Agreement

Bright Health Group has entered into an agreement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to pay down a $380 million shortfall the company owes through the Affordable Care Act’s risk-adjustment program. Through this program, exchange insurers that cover healthier customers must transfer funds to carriers that insure sicker, more costly enrollees. Marketplace carriers are expected to pay $9.24 billion in risk-adjustment funds this year. (Tepper, 9/19) 

Bloomberg:
UpHealth Puts Unit In Bankruptcy After Losing SPAC Fee Ruling

A unit of UpHealth Inc. filed for bankruptcy after a judge recently ruled the telemedicine provider must pay investment bank Needham & Co. a $31.3 million fee for arranging its 2021 merger with a publicly traded blank-check company. UpHealth Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 on Tuesday, listing assets and liabilities each of between $100 million and $500 million, according to a Delaware bankruptcy petition. (Randles, 9/19)

Bloomberg:
American Physician Partners Files Bankruptcy After Shutting Down

Medical staffing company American Physician Partners LLC filed for bankruptcy protection to wind down its business after it ceased operations in July, citing economic headwinds brought by the pandemic and lost revenue from new regulation. The company listed assets of as much as $500 million and liabilities of as much as $1 billion in its petition, filed Monday in Delaware. As of July 31, American Physician Partners had transitioned its clients to other emergency medicine companies, hospitals and health systems, according to a statement. It plans to liquidate under court supervision. (Steinberg and Boston, 9/19)

Stat:
Bankrupt Pear’s Prescription App Helped MassHealth Save Money, Data Suggests

Pear Therapeutics may be gone, but one of its most important deals is still driving critical conversations about how medical apps can find a foothold in the slow-moving health care system. (Aguilar, 9/19)

Axios:
Zocdoc CEO: We Want To Be Health Care’s “Connective Tissue”

Zocdoc has long been known as the site where patients can scope out doctor reviews and book appointments. But now it’s getting into the business of actually running physicians’ front offices, the company announced Tuesday. The company’s platform will manage patient intake, handle a practice’s entire online scheduling and host telehealth visits — and, for now, the product is entirely free to doctor’s offices. (Reed, 9/19)