News Briefs
Statistics Show Upward Trend in Healthcare Data Breaches
Healthcare data breach statistics clearly show there has been an upward trend in data breaches over the past 14 years, with 2021 seeing more data breaches reported than any other year since records were first published by the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights ("OCR"). Data breaches increased once again in 2022, with OCR receiving reports of 720 data breaches of 500 or more records. There was no letup in cyberattacks on healthcare organizations in 2023, which set two new records – the most reported data breaches and the most breached records.
(Source: HIPAA Journal, 2024-08-23)
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CMS Reports Over 12,000 No Surprises Act Complaints as of June 30
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a report on complaints and enforcement efforts concerning the Public Health Service Act, which includes the No Surprises Act. As of June 30, CMS received more than 16,073 complaints, and of these, 12,077 were No Surprises Act complaints, with 1,777 being alleged violations against insurers and 10,300 against hospitals, other providers, and air ambulance services.
(Source: Healthcare Finance News, 2024-08-23)
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Hospitals and HRSA Challenge J&J Change to 340B Drug Discounts
A major drugmaker's plan to trade out upfront 340B discounts for rebates has found swift pushback from both hospitals participating in the drug subsidy program and the government administration that oversees it. Johnson & Johnson issued a notice that, beginning Oct. 15, it would no longer be processing wholesaler chargebacks for two of its drugs, Stelara and Xarelto, for certain program participants. Shortly after the company delivered the notice, an association of more than 1,500 hospitals that participate in the program released a statement calling on the Health Resources and Services Administration, which oversees the program, to step in.
(Source: FierceHealthcare, 2024-08-26)
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Drug Makers Wary of Policies of Both Presidential Candidates
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have a rare point of agreement in their otherwise bitter and divisive contest: It's up to the government to cut high U.S. drug prices. The industry is increasingly under attack by lawmakers from both parties for drug prices most Americans regard as unreasonable, according to KFF polling, so the election outcome could be pivotal to drug companies' fortunes.
(Source: KFF Health News, 2024-08-26)
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App Aims to Help Doctors Record Conversations to Be More Present
After conducting a poll showing most Americans approve of artificial intelligence in healthcare, Ohio State Wexner Medical Center is launching an AI-driven application that helps clinicians draft clinical notes. It's piloting the Microsoft Dragon Ambient eXperience Copilot application, which uses conversational, ambient, and generative AI to securely listen to a provider-patient visit and draft clinical notes in the patient's electronic medical record.
(Source: Healthcare Finance News, 2024-08-23)
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FTC's Noncompete Rule Struck Down by Federal Judge
A Texas federal judge has struck down the Federal Trade Commission's rule broadly banning employers' noncompete agreements 15 days before it was set to go into effect nationwide. The ruling, handed down by U.S. District Judge Ada Brown, finds that the regulator had overstepped its statutory authority and that the ban was arbitrary and capricious.
(Source: FierceHealthcare, 2024-08-21)
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FDA Boosts Medical Device Surveillance Platform to Monitor Safety
The Food and Drug Administration is building a surveillance platform as part of its ongoing and decade-long effort to monitor potential safety issues arising from faulty medical devices. The project -- the status of which was updated in a report from the Government Accountability Office -- is a response to the more than 1.7 million injuries and 83,000 deaths that have been potentially linked to faulty medical devices over a 10-year span in the U.S., FDA data show.
(Source: HealthLeaders Media, 2024-08-20)
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States Will be Disproportionately Impacted by Staffing Mandate
Staffing challenges have been prevalent in nursing care since the pandemic, and a federal minimum staffing rule coming down the pike could have a negative impact on some facilities. A recently published brief from Altarum highlights significant variation among states in the percentage of nursing homes that meet the new federal staffing standards.
(Source: McKnight's Senior Living, 2024-08-26)
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Private Sector Expected to See Gains in Long-Term Care Construction
In the first half of the year, long-term care construction volume in the public sector outpaced the private sector, with labor shortages and material costs still keeping prices up. That said, the private sector is expected to see gains in volume.
(Source: Skilled Nursing News, 2024-08-20)
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Hospice M&A Expected to Pick Up in 2025, But Process Complex
Hospice transactions are facing a new world of challenges during a time when M&A activity is projected to ramp up after recent lulls. More founders who began their organizations when the Medicare Hospice Benefit was established in the 1980s are reaching retirement, and a large contingent will be seeking an exit strategy that will sustain their businesses, but heading to the seller's table has become an increasingly complex process.
(Source: Hospice News, 2024-08-22)
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