Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Data Breaches Fewer Than September's High, But Nearly 60 Reported
As of Thursday, HHS' Office for Civil Rights posted 59 data breach reports that healthcare providers, insurers and their business associates had submitted to the agency in October. In terms of patients affected, that's a 219.6% increase from October 2019, when organizations reported 53 breaches affecting nearly 677,300 patients. But 2.1 million is down from September, when 9.7 million patients had data exposed in a landmark 97 breaches—the highest number reported in a single month since OCR began tracking healthcare data breaches in 2010. (Kim Cohen, 11/12)
The Health Resources and Services Administration set some initial guardrails for how UnitedHealthcare can use financial data it may acquire as healthcare providers apply for COVID-19 relief grants. The letter contract between UnitedHealthcare and HRSA for administering the Provider Relief Fund offers a first look into the parameters that structured a mammoth effort to quickly get billions of dollars into healthcare providers' bank accounts. The preliminary contract said the target date to sign a definitive contract was July 7, or more than four months ago, but no such agreement has been reached. (Cohrs, 11/12)
Oklahoma is making progress on the creation of a statewide health information exchange, a central repository for digital patient information. A priority of Gov. Kevin Stitt, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority is close to finalizing a contract with a company to create an exchange to make it easier for doctors, regardless of their health system, to access patient information. (Forman, 11/13)
Also —
A North Dakota nurses union is rejecting a policy that would allow COVID-19-positive nurses to continue treating patients at coronavirus units of hospitals and nursing homes if they are not symptomatic. In a statement released Wednesday, the North Dakota Nurses Association said the policy does not address the root of the problem and called for a statewide mask mandate and other public health measures to be implemented first. (Weixel, 11/12)
When it comes to worries about high health care costs, having health insurance doesn't necessarily spare you, according to a study recently published in JAMA. Despite the gains in insurance coverage brought by the Affordable Care Act, high health care costs continue to plague many Americans, researchers found. Around 11 million Americans experienced "catastrophic medical expenses" in 2017, the last year the study covered — and privately insured people represented more than half of those. (Kendrick, 11/12)
Wendy Horton has been named the chief executive of UVA Medical Center, the academic health system announced Thursday. Horton, who will officially take over Nov. 15, joined UVA Health in March as chief operating officer. Interim CEO Dr. K. Craig Kent has filled in for Pamela Sutton-Wallace, who left last year to join New York-Presbyterian Hospital. (Kacik, 11/12)
