News Briefs
FTC Finalizes Providers' Reporting Rules Prior to M&A
The Federal Trade Commission has made changes to a rule meant to improve its ability to detect illegal mergers and acquisitions before they happen, by requiring healthcare companies to provide more information to regulators. The additional information the final rule requires is necessary, the FTC said, to determine which deals require an in-depth antitrust investigation, including through the issuance of Second Requests.
(Source: Healthcare Finance News, 2024-10-15)
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DEA to Extend Pandemic-Era Telehealth Prescribing Rules Again
The Drug Enforcement Administration is poised to extend pandemic-era telehealth prescribing rules for a third time. The agency sent a rule titled Third Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.
(Source: FierceHealthcare, 2024-10-15)
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94% of Consumers Would Use Virtual Care, Demand Exceeds Supply
A vast majority of healthcare consumers are willing to return for virtual care visits; however, demand appears to exceed supply, with nearly half of health systems saying they offer the same or fewer virtual visits today compared to 2022, according to new research from Deloitte. The survey results show that though the proportion of consumers who had a virtual health visit in the previous year increased only slightly from 42 percent in 2022 to 44 percent in 2024, the willingness to continue using virtual health services has increased significantly, and that in 2024, most consumers (94 percent) expressed willingness to have another virtual visit, up from 80 percent in 2020.
(Source: Tech Target, 2024-10-16)
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Providers Concerned Over Changes to Hospice CARE Act
Hospice providers and stakeholders are carefully examining the proposed changes included in the recently introduced Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act as the bill begins its journey through the legislative process. Leading concerns in the industry include the bill's suggested regulatory reforms to address program integrity in the hospice industry, along with potential changes to reimbursement, caregiver support, and palliative care payment pathways.
(Source: Hospice News, 2024-10-15)
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Groups Seek Summary Judgment in Nursing Home Staffing Rule
The American Health Care Association, LeadingAge, and other plaintiffs formally asked a federal court to issue judgment in their favor in their case opposing a national nursing home staffing rule. The request for summary judgment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas is the latest step in a legal challenge being mustered primarily through written arguments. AHCA and its attorneys say that CMS has failed to show that Congress granted the agency the authority to impose overall hourly nurse requirements or increase existing registered nurse coverage. HHS and CMS have until Nov. 15 to file a cross-motion for summary judgment, which will presumably ask the court to clear the way for the rule to stand.
(Source: McKnight's Long-Term Care News, 2024-10-21)
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CHAI Documents Will Impact Future of AI in Healthcare
The Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) announced the completion of two draft documents that may have a big effect on the future of AI in healthcare. CHAI champions the creation of a national network of independent assurance labs for healthcare AI.
(Source: FierceHealthcare, 2024-10-18)
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Report Finds 14,000 IP Addresses Exposing Patients' Information
Cybersecurity software vendor Censys released a report showing that there are more than 14,000 unique IP addresses across the globe exposing patients' potentially sensitive medical information on the public internet. Open ports and web interfaces meant for exchanging and viewing medical images account for 36% of these exposures, according to the report.
(Source: MedCity News, 2024-10-18)
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Cybersecurity Agencies Warn Iranian Actors Targeting Healthcare
The FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the National Security Agency, and Australian authorities released a joint cybersecurity advisory about Iranian cyber actors targeting critical infrastructure organizations, including healthcare. The agencies have observed these cyberthreat actors using brute force and other tactics to obtain credentials, sell access to other cybercriminals, and ultimately compromise critical infrastructure entities.
(Source: Tech Target, 2024-10-17)
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Study Suggests Focusing on IMGs to Alleviate Physician Shortage
Finding sound strategies to meet the growing demand for primary care, especially in underserved areas, is an ongoing public health challenge among policymakers. A new study led by the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute suggests that policy interventions aimed at recruiting physicians to specialize in primary care, especially to practice in underserved areas, should be tailored to the citizenship status of international medical graduates (IMGs).
(Source: Medical Xpress, 2024-10-18)
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V.C. Investments in Healthcare Technology May Be Recovering
Venture capital investment in healthcare technology might be on the upswing following a long hangover from the pandemic-era funding boom, according to a report by Silicon Valley Bank. Investment so far this year is hovering between $4 billion and $4.5 billion per quarter, and funding in the first eight months of 2024 has already exceeded investment totals from full-year 2019.
(Source: Healthcare Dive, 2024-10-16)
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Nursing Homes Up in Arms Over Medicare Revalidation Requirements
Nursing homes are crying foul over what they call excessive and hurried federal demands for ownership and related-party information, especially with providers' eligibility to accept Medicare pay at stake. Chief among their complaints are that demands were sent with atypically short notice and relatively little guidance.
(Source: McKnight's Long-Term Care News, 2024-10-17)
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