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A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in US hospitals remain elevated above pre–COVID-19 pandemic levels. Findings from the review of quarterly 2021 National Healthcare Safety Network data show continued increases in the quarterly standardized infections ratios (SIRs) for central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), ventilator-associated events (VAEs), and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia compared with 2019. The report analyzed data from acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and long-term acute care hospitals. (11/11)

The insurtech will give its Medicare Advantage members $150 when they schedule in-person, virtual or home visits with providers that use Clover Assistant. The company, which has 88,000 Medicare Advantage customers, describes Clover Assistant as an electronic medical record combined with an artificial intelligence tool that prompts physicians for diagnoses, code entries and care protocols. (Tepper, 11/11)

These days, if you’re an insurer and you’re not buying into the health care provider space, you’re falling behind. And insurers are coming up with all sorts of creative ways to plant their flags. (Bannow, 11/14)

University of North Carolina hospitals will soon be designated as a treatment center for patients with highly infectious diseases in the region. The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that UNC and Emory University are the only two Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers in the Southeast. (11/12)

In the weeks since Blessing Health Keokuk shut its doors to patients, residents of the community in southeast Iowa have reeled from the closure. Residents still have access to outpatient care, but the community has lost its sole access to 24-hour emergency treatment ― a terrifying new reality for patients like Leeper. (Ramm, 11/13)

When hundreds of people packed a memorial service at St. Louis University's Francis Xavier Church, many came to celebrate people they had never spoken to. Medical student Stanley Wu addressed the standing-room only audience at the ornate church, letting those in the sanctuary know how much he and his classmate appreciated their departed family members. (Fentem, 11/14)

"Seventeen to 20 people a day die on the wait list because they can't get organs, and the OPOs are just not recovering enough organs and making sure they're getting into people who need them," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who chairs the House subcommittee. (Werner Wernera, 11/11)

About 20% of North Carolina residents have medical debt that is in collections, making it the state with the fourth-highest level of unpaid medical debt. Alicia Pender lived a fairly normal life before contracting COVID-19 in 2020. She was a travel nurse working in central North Carolina and was active, taking vacations and handling her own home repairs. Nearly two years later, she’s facing a long list of health issues and more than $30,000 in medical debt. (Annable, 11/11)

KHN: Sick Profit: Investigating Private Equity’s Stealthy Takeover Of Health Care Across Cities And Specialties 

Two-year-old Zion Gastelum died just days after dentists performed root canals and put crowns on six baby teeth at a clinic affiliated with a private equity firm. His parents sued the Kool Smiles dental clinic in Yuma, Arizona, and its private equity investor, FFL Partners. They argued the procedures were done needlessly, in keeping with a corporate strategy to maximize profits by overtreating kids from lower-income families enrolled in Medicaid. Zion died after being diagnosed with “brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen,” according to the lawsuit. (Schulte, 11/14)

KHN: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: No Money, No Job, No Health Care? Not Always

If you don’t have money and you don’t have a job, what are your best options for getting health care? It’s 2023 open enrollment season, and a lot of Americans are shopping for health insurance plans. And some are weighing the risks of skipping health insurance altogether. (Weissmann, 11/11)

KHN: Journalists Tackle The Midterms And Open Enrollment

KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discussed how politicians plan to take on health care costs and how health issues are playing into the midterm elections on WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show” on Nov. 4. ... KHN senior correspondent Julie Appleby discussed open enrollment and Affordable Care Act health plans on the “America’s Heroes Group” podcast on Nov. 5. (11/11)