NEWSWIRE


Trifecta of illnesses could lie in near future


The County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency is sounding the alarm about a triple threat of illnesses that could have a severe impact on people’s lives and the county’s medical resources this fall and winter.


Local health providers are seeing an


early spike in flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases, and while COVID-19 cases are currently trending down in the region, a triple whammy of all three viruses circulating at the same time could lead to strains on the already overburdened medi- cal system. “As we see a sharp increase of flu and


RSV cases, I am urging San Diegans to do their part to prevent the spread of


Women’s Health FAST STATS


illnesses,” said Wilma J. Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer. “While there’s no vaccine for RSV, ample vaccinations are available for the flu and COVID-19. These vaccines take two weeks to become fully effective, so people should get both shots as soon as possible.” Read on: https://hpnonline.com/21285700


Study shows COVID-19 variants weaker than originals


In a recent study that represents the larg- est to date to examine the severity of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2 subvariant (the strain making a re-emergence this fall), a team led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) determined that the BA.2 subvariant is less severe than the previous Delta variant and less severe to an even greater extent than the original Omicron variant. This pattern revealed in the JAMA Net- work Open study suggests that the severity of SARS-Cov-2 may be diminishing. To provide an accurate assessment of the severity of SARS-Cov-2 variants above and beyond previous studies, the researchers used a method called entropy balancing to account for potential confounding factors such as prior infections, vaccinations, treat- ments, and comorbidities. The team applied this method to data leveraged from the Mass General Brigham’s electronic health record system that’s linked to a COVID-19 vaccine registry. Of 102,315 confirmed COVID-19 cases


Attention ladies and….ladies. The fol- lowing stats concern the health, or lack thereof, of women in America:


14.4% of women aged 18 and over were in fair or poor health (2020).


19.8% of women aged 18 and over had four or more drinks in 1 day at least


once in the past year


49.3% of women aged 18 and over met the 2008 federal physical activity guidelines for aerobic activity through leisure-time aerobic activity.


11.0% of women aged 18 and over currently smoke cigarettes (2020).


41.8% of women aged 20 and over are obese (2015-2018).


9.5% of females under age 65 are without health insurance coverage.


https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/womens-health.htm Photo credit: Stafeeva | stock.adobe.com


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from March 3, 2020 to June 20, 2022, there were 20,770 labeled as Delta variants, 52,605 labeled as Omicron B.1.1.529 variants (the original Omicron variant), and 28,940 labeled as Omicron BA.2 subvariants. Read on: https://hpnonline.com/21285317


Gloomy outlook on the general state of nurses As patient volumes return to pre-pandemic levels, nurse turnover has doubled and half report feelings of burnout, according to a new report from Vizient, Inc. and Vaya Workforce. In addition, researchers found that while contract labor utilization contin- ues to surge, the amount of time nurses are able to spend with patients dropped ear- lier this year to its lowest level since before the pandemic.


Employment data spanning April 2019- June 2022 from the Vizient Operational Data Base (ODB), which contains data from 650 healthcare facilities representing over 164,000 nurses show a 20% increase in nurse overtime hours. The ODB also shows overtime doubling during that same period from approximately 4% to 8% for licensed nursing staff. Taken together with a 2022 benchmark from Safe and Reliable Health-


December 2022 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • hpnonline.com


care of more than 26,000 nurses finding 50% have feelings of burnout, the report serves as a wakeup call for healthcare leaders. “Workforce challenges are top of mind for nearly every hospital and health system leader right now, especially when it comes to nurses. We’re seeing data that patients are staying in the hospital half a day lon- ger on average than pre-pandemic levels. Combine that with fewer nurses and more patients, and the challenges compound,” said Eric Burch, RN, MBA, FACHE, execu- tive principal at Vizient and former nurse executive. “What the data tells us is the need for a balanced approach to integrat- ing traditionally short-term stopgaps into long-term strategies, like contract labor and flexible scheduling. Investing too little in these strategies leads to prolonged burnout and turnover, while investing too heavily strains already-struggling financial margins.” Read on: https://hpnonline.com/21286142


Entering final quarter, healthcare providers in rough financial shape


Just a few months remain in what is shaping up to be one of the worst financial years for hospitals and health systems. As the third quarter came to a close, hospitals, health systems, and physician practices had an unfavorable mix of volumes, revenues, and expenses that continued the year-long trend of negative margins, according to data from Kaufman Hall.


“Health systems are starting to get a clear picture of what service lines have a positive effect on their margins and which ones are weighing them down,” said Matthew Bates, managing director and Physician Enterprise service line lead with Kaufman Hall. “Without a positive margin there is no mission. Health systems must think care- fully and strategically about what areas of care they invest in for the future.” The median year-to-date operating mar- gin index for hospitals was -0.1% in Septem- ber, for a ninth straight month of negative actual operating margins, according to findings in the latest National Hospital Flash Report.


According to the latest Physician Flash Report, the median investment/subsidy per provider full-time equivalent (FTE) reached $227,282 in Q3 2022, slightly up from the second quarter and returning physician practices to a trend of increasing investments/subsidies after a temporary decrease in Q2. Investment/subsidies remain well above where they were at this time last year, with Q3 2021 median investment/subsidies per provider FTE of $190,608. Read on: https://hpnonline.com/21286034


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