Care Gaps Among Seniors Remain Prevalent, Warrant Action

By Kyle Murphy, PhD

February 22, 2022 - Senior populations are more vulnerable to severe infection from COVID-19, but they also face health risks due to delayed or foregone care during the pandemic.

A Third of Seniors Experiencing Impact of Care Gaps

Senior members might continue to see canceled or delayed care even as coronavirus cases decline, a trend which has had significant impacts on payer revenues and spending in 2020 and 2021, a report from the University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Aging found. Nearly three out of ten adults over 50 (28 percent) delayed care due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2021.

In the past year alone, 14 percent of the poll participants said that they had decided to delay, reschedule, or forego care. Eight percent of the respondents said their providers had canceled, delayed, or rescheduled their care. Twenty-eight percent of seniors who had an appointment scheduled in 2021 had their care canceled, delayed, or rescheduled due to COVID-19.

By January 2022, only a little more than a third of individuals who had to reschedule or delay care had received the care (34 percent). Another four out of ten individuals had rescheduled it (38 percent). Of the remaining respondents, 16 percent had planned to reschedule their appointments but had yet to do so, and 10 percent planned to forego their appointments. READ MORE

Healthcare CFOs Eye Investments to Improve Patient Care, Experience

After nearly two years in a global pandemic, the healthcare industry has faced numerous hurdles. But healthcare chief financial officers (CFOs) have high hopes for the upcoming year and plan to improve performance by investing in patients, new partnerships, and health equity initiatives, the 2022 BDO Healthcare CFO Outlook Survey found.

In 2021, patients began returning to their usual pattern of healthcare utilization after forgoing or delaying care during the first year of the pandemic. Most of the CFOs reported that their organizations were in peak financial condition, and 53 percent said that they would seek to maintain this position and focus on gradual, continuous growth in 2022. Nearly 75 percent of CFOs said they expected to see revenue growth in the future.

Four in ten organizations planned to improve the patient experience, 30 percent said they would expand service lines, and 29 percent reported focusing on investments that restore patient confidence. More than 40 percent of organizations reported that they planned to increase their investments in different care areas, including specialty care, telehealth, ambulatory service centers, post-acute residential care, and hospice care. READ MORE

AstraZeneca Combination Therapy Improves Prostate Cancer Outcomes

AstraZeneca recently announced that its combination chemotherapy treatment improved radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) compared to standard-of-care for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients.

The PROpel Phase 3 trial studied the safety, efficacy, and tolerability of AstraZeneca’s Lynparza versus placebo when given in addition to Zytiga (abiraterone) in men with mCRPC. Patients in the study did not previously receive chemotherapy or NHAs in the first-line setting.

The study uncovered that Lynparza combined with abiraterone plus prednisone reduced the risk of disease progression or death by a third compared to abiraterone plus prednisone in mCRPC patients, regardless of their biomarker status.

Additionally, a predefined interim analysis found that the combination treatment reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 34 percent versus abiraterone alone. Median progression-free survival was 24.8 months versus 16.6 for abiraterone alone. READ MORE

Florida Blue Taps Artificial Intelligence for Prior Authorizations

GuideWell’s subsidiary, Florida Blue, will become the first US payer to automate prior authorization approvals through a new artificial intelligence-powered clinical reviews tool developed by health technology company Olive. This partnership seeks to transform a frustrating, labor-intensive process, resulting in faster patient care and improved provider satisfaction.

The solution will allow members to receive authorizations faster by giving providers immediate approval from GuideWell when Olive’s AI system determines the authorization request meets the necessary medical requirements.

By enhancing decision-making at the point of care, patients can receive the proper care, at the right place, at the right time, according to the press release. Additionally, clinical staff will spend less time on administrative functions and more time on patient care. READ MORE

Patients Agree on Improvements to Virtual Care Appointments

Though patients have previously made their preference for virtual waiting rooms over traditional ones known, new survey results from Doximity show that most telehealth patients would rather just be notified by a text or call when their doctor is ready to see them.

Seventy-nine percent of patients would prefer a call or text letting them know that their doctor is ready to see them versus having to wait in a virtual waiting room. Even among chronic illness patients only, an overwhelming majority (81 percent) would prefer to receive a call or text. Patients also displayed a strong preference for familiarity with a provider. Overall, 83 percent of patients surveyed said they would wait one to three days to see their current doctor rather than seeing a new physician immediately.

As for preferred devices for telehealth, mobile devices came out on top. Over 59 percent of respondents chose mobile devices as their preferred one for conducting telehealth visits, while only 38 percent said they preferred computers. READ MORE

Racial Health Disparities Impeded Efforts to Curb Opioid Use

A recent NYU School of Global Public Health study examined the link between the availability of hospital-based opioid use disorder (OUD) services and the percentage of Black or Hispanic residents in the community, finding that these individuals are less likely to offer opioid use programs. The findings highlight access inequities in hospital-based substance use services contributing to racial health disparities.

The study showed that 67 percent of hospitals had an opioid-related program. The three most popular treatments provided by hospitals included risk education and harm reduction (34 percent of hospitals), formal treatment (27 percent), and primary care (28 percent).

Researchers observed that hospital adoption of various OUD services was linked to the percentage of Black or Hispanic individuals residing within the communities. Even after adjusting for hospital size, the overdose burden in the community, community socioeconomic characteristics, and state funding, the disparities persisted. READ MORE

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