Health Change Bulletin

Health Change Bulletin November 2023

	Why It’s So Tough to Reduce Unnecessary Medical Care The U.S. spends huge amounts of money on health care that does little or nothing to help patients, and may even harm them. In Colorado, a new analysis shows that the number of tests and treatments conducted for which the risks and costs exceed the benefits has barely budged despite a decade-long attempt to tamp down on such care. KFF, November 13, 2023 Apple Has Plans to Eventually, Maybe Revolutionize Health Care The company is working on big things, but employees disagree over whether they should be serving people who are healthy or sick. Bloomberg, November 1, 2023 What to Watch in the 2024 ACA Open Enrollment With the start of the 2024 Affordable Care Act open enrollment, the Marketplaces have been operating for a full decade and are heading into their eleventh year. This year’s open enrollment season will last from November 1, 2023 to January 15, 2024 in most states and longer in some state-based marketplaces. Even after a decade of operation, there continue to be changes in these markets. KFF, October 30, 2023 The new innovation playbook for healthcare orgs Nearly every healthcare organization devotes a non-small percentage of its resources to innovation. Here, leaders from Moderna, GE HealthCare and GoodRx share their approaches. Asked about the need for continuous innovation at their organizations, leaders from GE HealthCare, Moderna and GoodRx state the obvious: The moment you stop innovating is the moment you cede competitive ground — and stop serving the myriad patients who would benefit from next-gen products and treatments. MM+M, October 11, 2023 There’s a Problem With the Telehealth Revolution Many policymakers and medical organizations push for telehealth expansions on the idea that telehealth is a clear boon for health care access. But what if this digital revolution is actually undermining the very rural patients it appears to support? Our recent research suggests that this is a real risk. Slate, September 11, 2023

How Medical Practices Already Use AI

1. Researching conditions: 13%
2. Electronic health records (EHRs): 10%
3. Office administrative tasks: 10%
4. Patient scheduling: 9%
5. Staff scheduling: 8%
6. Summarizing a patient's EHR before visit: 8%
7. Patient communications: 7%
8. Diagnosing conditions: 7%
9. Using exam room conversation to generate clinical note: 6%
10. Predicting a patient's prognosis: 5%
11. Treating patients: 5%

Note: Respondents could choose more than one.

Source: Medscape Physicians and AI Report 2023: A Source of Help or Concern?, October 2023

			Health Care Cost Innovations in Consolidated Markets A panel of experts met at the University of Pennsylvania's Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI) to discuss potential innovations that states might use to reduce health care costs in consolidated hospital markets where little competition exists. The possibilities ranged from state cost commissions, and global budgeting, to public options that create state-run health insurance programs. Major challenges cited by participants included the weak regulations, lack of oversight, and failure to contest mega mergers that characterize most states' approach to the issues of health care cost and hospital consolidation.
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Leading Health Care Partners Announce The Common Health Coalition
AHIP, the Alliance of Community Health Plans, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and Kaiser Permanente announced the Common Health Coalition: Together for Public Health. The Common Health Coalition is focused on translating the hard-won lessons and successes of the COVID-19 pandemic response into actionable strategies that will strengthen the partnership between the U.S. health care and public health systems. The Coalition is the product of a joint commitment to public health made in March 2023 by the five founding member organizations.
PRNewswire, November 9, 2023

Amazon launches One Medical for Prime
Amazon Prime members can now get healthcare for an extra $9 a month. The tech giant launched One Medical for Prime on Nov. 8, hoping to capitalize on its nearly $4 billion acquisition of the membership-based primary care company earlier this year.
Becker's, November 8, 2023

Lower Costs, Better Value, Greater Access: CED Provides Rx for Health Care
The Committee for Economic Development, the public policy center of The Conference Board (CED), issued a new Solutions Brief, Health Care Policy After the Pandemic. It examines urgent health care policy issues that the pandemic exposed and magnified and provides recommendations for both the public and private sectors.
PRNewswire, October 31, 2023

CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Launches First Federal Campaign for Hospitals to Tackle Healthcare Workers Burnout
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced the launch of Impact Wellbeing. This new campaign provides hospital leaders with evidence-informed resources to improve workplace policies and practices that reduce burnout, normalize help-seeking, and strengthen professional wellbeing.
CDC, October 31, 2023

Smaller Employers Weigh a Big-Company Fix for Scarce Primary Care: Their Own Clinics
With his company’s health costs soaring and his workers struggling with high blood pressure and other medical conditions, Winston Griffin, CEO of Laurel Grocery Co., knew his company had to do something. So the London, Kentucky, wholesaler opened a health clinic.
KFF, October 27, 2023

Facing Criticism, Feds Award First Maternal Health Grant to a Predominantly Black Rural Area
A federal program to combat the alarming rates of rural women dying from pregnancy complications has marked a first: It’s supporting an organization that serves predominantly Black counties in the Deep South.
KFF, October 2, 2023

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