News Briefs
New FDA Guidelines Aim to Make TV Drug Ads Clearer, More Direct
The ever-present TV drug ads showing patients hiking, biking, or enjoying a day at the beach could soon have a different look, as new rules require drugmakers to be clearer and more direct when explaining their medications' risks and side effects. The FDA spent more than 15 years crafting the guidelines, which are designed to do away with industry practices that downplay or distract viewers from risk information.
(Source: MedPage Today, 2024-11-14)
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CMS Boosts Public Education to Protect Medicare Beneficiaries from Fraud
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently elaborated on its plans to expand public education campaigns designed to help protect hospice beneficiaries from fraudulent actors in the space. Program integrity concerns have heated up in the hospice industry. Swarms of new hospices have emerged in certain regions in recent years, with some unscrupulous operators receiving federal funding through illegitimate business practices. CMS’ Centers of Program Integrity has ramped up Medicare beneficiary education efforts designed to help identify fraudsters, according to Thomas Pryor, nurse consultant and program lead of CMS’ Hospice Survey and Certification.
(Source: Hospice News, 2024-11-15)
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Healthcare Collaborative Aims to Assess Different AI Models
Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, technology companies have been racing to bring generative AI-powered tools to the healthcare market, but providers have faced a quandary about what -- and whether -- to buy. A group of health systems, led by Boston-based Mass General Brigham, is hoping to solve that problem. The academic medical center launched the Healthcare AI Challenge Collaborative, which will allow participating clinicians to test the latest AI offerings in simulated clinical settings.
(Source: Healthcare Dive, 2024-11-14)
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Physicians Report AI Solutions Easing Workloads, Survey Finds
Elation Health's most recent survey of 100 primary care physicians looked to gather a more complete consensus around artificial intelligence technologies' implementation in healthcare. Not only did PCPs report that AI solutions were already easing administrative workloads, they shared their beliefs that future AI developments would result in improved clinical and financial outcomes.
(Source: Medical Economics, 2024-11-15)
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ChatGPT Outperformed Doctors in Diagnosing Illnesses, Study Finds
In a study, doctors who were given ChatGPT-4, along with conventional resources, did only slightly better than doctors who did not have access to the bot. And, to the researchers' surprise, ChatGPT alone outperformed the doctors.
(Source: The New York Times, 2024-11-17)
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HHS Asks Judge to Reject Challenge to SNF Staffing Mandate
The Department of Health and Human Services asked a federal court to reject claims that its six-month-old nursing home staffing mandate exceeds its rule-making authority. Instead, attorneys for the department said Congress granted the department "expansive authority" to regulate nursing homes treating patients covered by Medicare and Medicaid and urged the court not to vacate the rule in its entirety.
(Source: McKnight's Long-Term Care News, 2024-11-18)
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Eli Lily Files Lawsuit Over Hospital Drug Discounts
Eli Lily sued a federal health agency that has blocked the company's plan to tighten the way it provides lucrative drug discounts to hospitals. Lily is the second drugmaker to go to court over the issues, a sign that the pharmaceutical industry is so fed up with the drug discounts that it is trying to overhaul them.
(Source: MSN, 2024-11-16)
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AMA Seeks More Oversight of Nonprofit Hospitals' Charity Policies
The American Medical Association has voted to support greater oversight of nonprofit hospitals' charity care policies that justify their tax-exempt status. The AMA wants a standardization of the financial assistance process as current criteria varies across hospitals, making the benefit inaccessible to some patients who are eligible.
(Source: Healthcare Finance News, 2024-11-14)
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Study Finds Hospitals Have Made Strides in Patient Safety
Patient safety continues to improve at U.S. hospitals, with the fall 2024 "Hospital Safety Grade" report from The Leapfrog Group showing better results across the country in healthcare-associated infections, hand hygiene, and medication safety. The report, which uses 30 performance measures to assign an A, B, C, D, or F grade to hospitals, shows that the country is on the right track for reducing preventable patient harm, according to Leah Binder, the president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group.
(Source: Tech Target, 2024-11-15)
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Hospital Finances Stable Over Year, But High Labor Costs Continue
While hospitals' and health systems' financial performance were relatively stable in September, expenses remain high, especially when compared to 2021-2023, according to Kaufman Hall's September Flash report. Hospitals' and health systems' finances have remained stable in the last 12 months, but high labor costs continue to challenge the bottom line, according to the report.
(Source: Healthcare Finance News, 2024-11-14)
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