CVS Health Study Highlights Mental Healthcare Woes; J&J Vaccine Effective Against COVID Delta Variant

July 08, 2021 - While the pandemic shone a bright light on mental health, many Americans faced struggles accessing counseling services due to cost and other barriers. As Delta variant becomes the dominant strain of COVID-19, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine proves effective against the threat.

Continuous Monitoring Tied to Reduced Medical Costs

Using continuous monitoring and predictive analytics can cut medical costs by nearly $535,000 for a median-sized US hospital, according to an economic data model from Medtronic.

Specifically, continuous pulse oximetry and capnography monitoring of high-risk patients receiving opioids could significantly reduced annual hospital costs for mid-sized hospitals. Data was collected from the PRODIGY (PRediction of Opioid-induced respiratory Depression In patients monitored by capnoGraphY) trial.

"Our findings suggest that compared to intermittent monitoring, investing in continuous monitoring of high-risk patients receiving opioids could reduce the cost burden and length of patient stay while potentially increasing patient safety. Our model suggests that a mere reduction of 1.5% in the incidence of respiratory depression would allow hospital systems to recover costs associated with the investment in monitoring,” said Ashish K. Khanna, MD, primary study investigator from the Wake Forest School of Medicine. READ MORE

CVS Health Study Highlights Mental Healthcare Access Challenges

Although the COVID-19 pandemic prompted renewed patient engagement and patient motivation for some, the 2021 Care Insights Survey from CVS Health showed serious challenges related to mental healthcare access and healthcare costs.

The survey, which elicited responses from 1,000 patients and 400 providers, showed that by and large, the pandemic had a disastrous effect on mental health and wellness. Social isolation and depression were up 30 percent over the past year, while 37 percent of patient respondents reported higher anxiety and 35 percent noted higher stress. Another 33 percent of patients reported changes in physical health, like weight gain.

About three-quarters of respondents said they did not seek mental health services during the pandemic, with 28 percent saying they did not do so because of the high cost associated with mental health visits. READ MORE

Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Effective Against Delta Variant

Johnson & Johnson recently announced that a single shot of its COVID-19 vaccine generated robust and persistent activity against the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant and other prevalent viral variants.

A recent analysis studied blood samples from participants in the company's Phase 3 ENSEMBLE trial and found that the vaccine was consistently effective across all regions studied globally, including in South Africa and Brazil.

In the trial, a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine was 85 percent effective against severe/critical disease and demonstrated protection against hospitalization and death. READ MORE

Telehealth Provides Positive Environmental Benefits

A five-year analysis of outpatient visits at a Pacific Northwest health system found that a shift to telehealth helped to dramatically reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

In what’s being billed as the first large-scale study in the US, researchers from Kaiser Permanente, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School are reporting that connected health platforms dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, making those services as healthy for the environment as they are for patients.

The study, published online in The Journal of Climate Change and Health, attributes most of the results to the adoption of telehealth during the coronavirus pandemic, when in-person visits dropped sharply and both providers and payers limited their travel time. But the researchers noted that any telehealth service offers an opportunity to reduce stress on the environment. READ MORE

Medical Association Calls on CMS to Address Risk in MSSP ACO

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) recommended several steps regarding accountable care organization (ACO) financial risk advancement in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) in a letter to CMS.

The federal agency’s decision to defer the automatic advancement of ACOs in the MSSP and allow ACOs to remain in their current risk level of the BASIC Track’s glide path for performance year 2022 prompted AMGA to express concern.

AMGA urged CMS to adjust its current policy surrounding ACO advancement in the MSSP before finalizing anything in order to ensure risk management success. This adjustment may be necessary to keep ACOs in the MSSP, especially with participation numbers at an all-time low in 2021. READ MORE

Community Health Plans Seek Relief From Myriad Compliance Deadlines

The Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP) has asked CMS to reassess surprise billing, cost transparency, and interoperability compliance deadlines and health data exchange policies that are putting a strain on health plans.

In a letter to CMS, ACHP noted that the following requirements are hindering health plans’ abilities to focus on COVID-19 vaccine administration, expand the Affordable Care Act, and establish post-pandemic practices: CMS Interoperability and Patient Access regulation, Transparency in Coverage regulation, and the No Surprises Act of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.

While ACHP agreed with some aspects of the CMS regulations, the organization stressed the need to reevaluate these deadlines due to the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic introduced. READ MORE