Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
Demand for Agency Nurses Drops
The demand for agency nurses has dropped by a third recently, nurse staffing agencies report. The decline is generally attributed to a combination of the stabilization in the number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations and the phasing out of federal aid for hospitals and government reimbursement for care for uninsured COVID patients. Learn more about how the demand for agency nurses waxed and then waned and how much they were costing hospitals at their peak in the Kaiser Health News article “Travel Nurses See Swift Change of Fortunes as Covid Money Runs [...]
Relatively Few Docs Treating Medicaid Patients
Just a small portion of the providers theoretically available to serve individuals enrolled in Medicaid managed care plans are actually caring for such patients, a new study has found. According to a report in Health Affairs, 25 percent of the primary care physicians serving patients in selected managed care plans are providing 86 percent of the primary care to those plans’ members while 16 percent of those plans’ listed primary care providers have gone more than a year without filing a single claim. Similarly, 25 percent of the medical specialists [...]
Hospitals Feeling the Pain of Loss of Pandemic Aid
The end of some forms of federal COVID-19 financial assistance is causing financial pain for some hospitals – especially safety-net hospitals that care for especially large numbers of uninsured patients. During the pandemic, the federal government reimbursed hospitals for testing, vaccinating, and treating uninsured COVID patients; now it does not. During the pandemic, some people, including many who are uninsured, put off seeking to address their health problems because they feared going to a hospital and encountering the highly contagious virus. Now, these individuals are showing up at hospitals’ doors [...]
Pandemic-Driven Telehealth Expansion Reaching the Disadvantaged
Contrary to the expectations of many, people who are considered disadvantaged based on where they live have experienced a greater increase in the use of telehealth services than any other group since access to such services was expanded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a report published in Health Affairs, a previous trend that found an inverse link between socio-economic status and telehealth use reversed during the pandemic for non-elderly patients, with all minority groups experiencing increased telehealth use. The only exception has been among older adults, who [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for Thursday, May 5
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 5. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Department of Health and Human Services HHS and its Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) have awarded nearly $25 million to 125 HRSA-funded health centers to improve and strengthen access to school-based health services. Awards will support local partnerships between schools and health centers to provide children and youth with comprehensive physical and mental health care. Learn more [...]