| | | | | | | Presented By UnitedHealthcare | | | | Axios Vitals | | By Tina Reed · Nov 16, 2022 | | Good morning, Vitals readers. We're halfway through the week. Today's newsletter is 890 words or a 3.5-minute read. | | | | | | 1 big thing: Hospitals struggling to discharge patients seek more aid |  | | | Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios | | | | Health worker shortages are keeping hospitals from discharging patients for post-acute care and prompting pleas to Congress for per diem Medicare payments to cover the longer stays, Axios' Arielle Dreher writes. Why it matters: The requests add to a long list of health industry asks that Congress will have to sort through in the lame-duck session and underscore how the fallout from the pandemic is still rippling through the health care system. How it works: Discharging patients to long-term care facilities was challenging even before the pandemic, but COVID-19 dramatically disrupted the process, making it difficult to transfer patients in the midst of outbreaks. - The patients who can't be discharged are still too sick to go home and may have mobility issues, conditions like diabetes, or mental health needs.
- Providence Health in Spokane, Wash., for example, is on track to spend nearly $18 million this year on nursing care for patients who no longer need to be hospitalized at its two facilities. A handful of patients have been on the premises for more than 100 days, Susan Stacey, Providence chief executive for inland northwest Washington state, told Axios.
- "We're having workforce issues downstream so that per diem could provide some targeted temporary relief to hospitals," said Aimee Kuhlman, a vice president of advocacy at the American Hospital Association.
Zoom in: Long-term care facilities continue to grapple with staffing shortages that limit the available spots for a hospital to discharge to. - The backlog has left patients in emergency departments waiting on beds and sometimes dying, the American College of Emergency Physicians wrote in a letter to President Biden this month.
- Normally, an emergency department can handle tight capacity, staffing shortages and patients in need of intensive care, but when all three come together at once, it can quickly overwhelm an ER.
- "The system is at a breaking point," Christopher Kang, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, told Axios.
Go deeper. |     | | | | | | 2. Public health workers getting laid off |  | | | Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios | | | | Most of the 4,000 specialized workers brought on by a national nonprofit to fortify public health departments during the pandemic are being let go, Axios' Sabrina Moreno writes. Why it matters: The cuts are happening as time-limited funding needed to extend their contracts dries up. And the workers are leaving just ahead of an expected winter surge in COVID, flu and RSV that could again tax health surveillance systems and a drained workforce of disease-trackers. Details: COVID relief funding allowed the CDC Foundation — which supports but is independent of the federal agency — to supply epidemiologists and public health nurses to patch staffing shortages during the pandemic, KHN reported. What they're saying: Without bipartisan consensus on more relief, which seems unlikely, "we won't see it happen," said Chris Jennings, president of Jennings Policy Strategies, during a Kaiser Family Foundation briefing on Tuesday. - "We may rue the day that we did not allocate resources for this," he said.
The other side: Republicans have set their sights on ending remaining pandemic policies, adding that spending from past relief packages needs stricter oversight. Read the rest. | | | | | | | | 3. Amazon's latest health play |  | | | Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios | | | | Amazon on Tuesday launched a new virtual care service called Amazon Clinic, which offers treatment with a few clicks and an out-of-pocket cost on par with a standard co-pay, for common medical conditions, Axios' Arielle Dreher writes. Why it matters: The move further solidifies Amazon's consumer-driven health ambitions, building out services and capabilities around their other offerings like Amazon Pharmacy and their recent purchase of OneMedical. Yes, but: It comes on the heels of Amazon announcing it would shutter Amazon Care earlier this year, largely after the virtual care and telehealth service failed to take hold with large enterprise customers, per Fierce Healthcare. The intrigue: Amazon Clinic could be a way for providers to break into the virtual care market without having to create their own "digital front door," Nathan Ray, a partner at West Monroe, told Axios. - Specifics on how Amazon Clinic directly connects to the company's OneMedical clinics are likely still being worked out, Ray said.
- The new service line does clarify one of the company's goals: "It's clear they want patient data," Ray said.
Be smart: It's not all good news for Amazon, which plans to lay off approximately 10,000 workers, the New York Times reported this week. | | | | | | | | A message from UnitedHealthcare | | HouseCalls help prevent health issues among seniors | | |  | | | | UnitedHealthcare's Medicare Advantage HouseCalls provide preventive care visits in the comfort of seniors' own homes. The highly trained nurses are thorough, spending up to an hour with seniors and following up with doctors to address any issues. Learn more. | | | | | | 4. Data du jour: Kids' sick days hit working parents |  Data: BLS Current Population Survey; Chart: Axios Visuals The number of people who couldn't get to work last month shot up to the highest number seen since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking this data point, reports Abha Bhattarai in the Washington Post. Why it matters: It's another indicator of the widespread impact of soaring RSV, flu and COVID case rates around the U.S. in what's been dubbed the "tripledemic," Axios' Emily Peck writes. What happened: October saw surging levels of respiratory illness in kids, plus COVID, plus the flu. So, parents took time off to care for them — from workplaces that are still short-staffed in many cases. - Meanwhile, the grownups who look after children while parents work are getting sick, too. When that happens, parents again can't go to work.
The bottom line: This data illustrates again how much viruses aren't just a health problem — they're an economic one. | | | | | | | | 5. Catch up quick | | ❄️ Health care headwinds have put a chill on private equity-led dealmaking. (Axios) 💊 A diabetes medication popularized by celebrities and TikTok stars for its rapid weight loss effects is becoming harder to find for patients in need. (Axios) | | | | | | | | A message from UnitedHealthcare | | Better care with UnitedHealthcare's Medicare Advantage HouseCalls | | |  | | | | Millions of Medicare Advantage seniors rely on UnitedHealthcare's free HouseCalls program, which brings important preventive care visits into their homes. Our HouseCalls program helps keep seniors out of the hospital, and members give the service a 99% satisfaction rating. | | | | Thanks for reading, and thanks to senior editor Adriel Bettelheim and copy editor Nick Aspinwall for the edits. Did someone forward this email to you? Here's how to sign up. |  | | Why stop here? Let's go Pro. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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