Hold the Phone: Audio-Only Telehealth Expanding in New York and other States, but National Policies May Lag Wednesday, May 12, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a wave of telehealth policy changes across the nation at both federal and state levels. Such changes have expanded access to health care and addressed underutilization in chronic disease management while minimizing the risk of exposure for individuals seeking care. One such policy change in particular has received widespread attention and support from industry stakeholders and lawmakers alike: expansion of telehealth to include audio-only telephonic communications. However, the longevity of telehealth’s expansion to audio-only services remains uncertain as states and the federal government each pursue revisions to pandemic-era policies and flexibilities.
The federal agency that regulates nursing homes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), will require facilities to publicly report covid-19 vaccination rates for staff and residents starting May 21.
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Adolescents ages 12 to 15 should get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and they can get their other routine vaccinations along with it, a federal advisory committee said Wednesday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention s panel met to discuss the safety, immune response and effectiveness of the vaccine in this age group, after the Food and Drug Administration signed off Monday on the shots.
The same Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices last December signed off on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for adults and teens ages 16 to 17. Fourteen members of the panel on Wednesday endorsed lowering the age limit to 12, with one member recusing herself.
NOTEBOOK: Experts say largest Iowa health systems not in compliance with price transparency rule Wednesday, May 12, 2021 10:37 AM
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently began sending noncompliance letters to health systems and hospitals across the country that are not meeting the requirements of a new federal rule that went into effect on Jan. 1 mandating consumer-friendly price transparency disclosures.
It may be a large list, as some medical industry journals have reported that a majority of the largest U.S. hospital systems have been found to not be complying with the new rules.
In an article published in the Business Record in April ( Will greater price transparency help lower health care costs? ), this writer concluded that Broadlawns, MercyOne and UnityPoint Health each appeared to be in compliance with the new rule. However, some local health care experts have challenged that conclusion.
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Hospitals and provider groups, including the American Hospital Association and America s Essential Hospitals, are requesting that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services distribute billions of dollars that remain in a $178 billion COVID-19 relief fund meant for providers.
In a letter sent to HHS on Monday, the groups lobbied Secretary Xavier Becerra to release about $24 billion that remain in the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund, and to extend the date by which it must be used. At this point, hospitals and other providers have a deadline of June 30 to use the funds.
Rather than using that deadline, the groups suggest using the length of the public health emergency as the measuring stick, and imply that the work of treating COVID-19 patients is ongoing despite the increase in vaccinated adults.