Biden Seeks 23% Increase to HHS Budget; Mount Sinai AI Predicts COVID-19 Risks

June 02, 2021 - It’s already Wednesday. With a short week, the roundup will publish today and Friday. Here’s what is making news across healthcare.

Biden Seeks to Boost HHS Budget by 23 Percent

As part of the president’s proposed $6-trillion budget for 2022, the president requested $133.7 billion for the HHS budget, representing a 23-percent increase from this year’s budget of $108.4 billion.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will see a significant boost from the increase in HHS' budget, with a requested $8.7 billion in discretionary funding for the agency. The president also requested to increase funding for the Indian Health Service by $2.2 billion and give the CDC’s Social Determinants of Health program $152 million.

The budget would also establish an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health tasked with creating “a new generation of medical breakthroughs,” backed by $6.5-billion agency in funding. President Biden also proposed $10.7 billion in discretionary funding for HHS—an increase of $3.9 billion compared to the previous fiscal year—to help end the opioid epidemic, as well as $670 million for ending the HIV/AIDs epidemic. READ MORE

Machine Learning Predicts COVID-19 Outcomes

Researchers at Mount Sinai developed a machine learning model that uses predictive analytics to detect a COVID-19 patient’s risk of death or dialysis treatment, a new study shows.

Researchers studied EHR data of adult patients with COVID-19, all admitted to hospitals within the Mount Sinai Health System between March and December of 2020. The final count included 2,442 patients in the internal validation cohort and 3,651 patients in the external validation cohort.

Researchers developed and tested five machine learning models: LASSO, random forest, XGBoost with imputation, XGBoost without imputation, and logistic regression. The XGBoost model without imputation proved to be the most effective at predicting death or dialysis in patients. READ MORE

Provider-Patient Relationships Key to Avoiding Vaccination Hesitancy

While COVID-19 vaccinations across the United States are increasing, medical professionals know it’s those last few percentage points to herd immunity that are going to be the hardest. And with COVID vaccine myths rampant across the country, healthcare’s leaders are tapping into their patient-provider communication skills.

At the heart of that has to be a deep sense of empathy, according to Vincent Hsu, MD, AdventHealth epidemiologist and infection control officer. The remaining Americans who haven’t gotten their shots yet are scared and are holding misconceptions that providers need to face head-on, but not in an adversarial way.

“What we're seeing are very commonly held myths,” he said. “These are not necessarily unique. These are myths that have been circulating for quite some time.” READ MORE

Commercial Plans See Double-Digit Boost in Member Satisfaction

Member satisfaction has improved significantly among commercial health plans, JD Power’s 2021 commercial member health plan study found. The survey named 21 health plans that scored the highest on member satisfaction, which covered factors such as billing and payment, cost, and provider choice.

Overall, health plan satisfaction received a significant boost in 2021. Health plan satisfaction jumped 10 percentage points. The members cited factors including cost improvements and communication.

The top five were Kaiser Foundation Health Plan in South Atlantic (791), Kaiser Foundation Health Plan in California (782), Cigna in Virginia (777), Humana in Florida (777), and Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan (774). READ MORE

CMS Likely to Delay for State Value-Based Drug Purchasing

CMS recently proposed delaying Medicaid value-based drug payment requirements for state purchasing agreements with drug manufacturers until July 2022. The rule intended to advance the program’s efforts to support state flexibility to enter into innovative VBP arrangements with drug manufacturers for innovative therapies, such as gene therapy.

The federal agency stated that it is proposing to delay this instruction to the beginning of July to assure stakeholders have the ability to implement the new value-based pricing policy in a way that assures that patient access and quality of care are protected. READ MORE

FCC to Move Forward with Telehealth Connectivity Plan

The Federal Communication Commission is ready to move forward with its Connected Care Pilot Program, which aims to help providers expand their telehealth networks through better broadband connectivity.

FCC is working on a Second Report and Order for the program, which launched in April 2020 and selected 14 applications for funding this January. More than 200 applications were received during the application window for the $100-million program.

According to a report issued by the FCC in advance of its June 17 commission meeting, the agency’s second report will help clarify how it identifies eligible services and provides more details to applicants on funding commitments, reimbursement, and other aspects of the program. It would also give the green light to those selected in the first round to launch their three-year projects. READ MORE