By PAUL NATINSKY
Despite perceptions to the contrary, the COVID 19 pandemic is not over. Notwithstanding the return of crowds, the diminishment of mask wearers and the back-page treatment of pandemic news, the virus continues to circulate and the risk of resurgence looms.

“We’re certainly not done with it. We still have nationally a few hundred people a day dying from COVID. If you look at the overall mortality numbers, it’s still multiple times the number of deaths we see, say, from influenza. So it certainly has not faded into the background,” said Dr. Justin Skrzynski, a hospitalist with BHSH System, who has worked with COVID patients since the pandemic began.

Dr. Dennis [Read More]

“If local prosecutors, guided by their political expediency, are planning to imprison board certified obstetricians like me, then who do they expect to safely deliver all these pregnancies?” asked Dr. Audrey Stryker, a Bay City obstetrician and gynecologist.

Stryker met with several other medical professionals as part of a Committee to Protect Health Care’s virtual panel to discuss gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon’s abortion ban policy, which they say will drive medical professionals out of the state and lead to additional staffing shortages.

Dixon’s senior advisor, Kyle Olson, criticized the Committee, calling the group’s founder, Dr. Rob Davidson, a “political hack who failed at running for Congress.”

“He’s trying to remain relevant,” Olsen said, adding that the Committee is on [Read More]

By EWA MATUSZEWSKI
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) recently announced the names of its Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) designees – many receiving designation renewals, but others being PCMH designated for the first time. From my vantage point, these practices, whether multiple-year designees or newbies, represent the best of primary care and affirm the effectiveness of a healthcare approach that puts the patient in partnership with the physician or advanced care provider and their team to optimize outcomes in physical and mental health. I again must give recognition to my friend Tom Simmer, MD, who had the foresight to launch the PCMH practice program through the Physician Group Incentive Program [Read More]

By STEPHEN SHAVER & CHRISTIAN IERACI
The COVID-19 pandemic created a newfound need for expansive telehealth services. As lockdowns, restrictions, and mandates left many without in-person access to healthcare, providers shifted to telehealth services to provide the care their patients needed, providing telehealth care to over 28 million Medicare beneficiaries in the first year of the pandemic. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recognized the need for telehealth services and temporarily paused many audits and other medical reviews of claims in order to expand telemedicine access to Medicare beneficiaries. The increased need for telehealth services caused by the pandemic also led CMS to increase the types of services [Read More]

By JESSICA BUSCH
There’s a new sheriff in town, and they are looking to crack down on medical spas in Michigan.

Medical spas offering minimally invasive cosmetic medical services have enjoyed increasing popularity in the State of Michigan and across the United States. But with great success comes greater scrutiny of the so-called “Wild West” of the healthcare industry, particularly from lawmakers and government agencies. And with Michigan’s newly proposed legislation, lawmakers may be going after the bread and butter of many medical spas: Botox and dermal fillers.

New Michigan Legislation

Cosmetic medical services are medical-grade skin care and aesthetic services that constitute the practice of medicine and may only be performed by, [Read More]

Lansing Lines presented in cooperation with MIRS, a Lansing-based news and information service.

Hospital Association CEO: ‘Pipeline Issue’ Remains The Bottom Line For Healthcare

Although an economic report from the state’s hospital association discovered that healthcare maintains its place as Michigan’s largest private-sector employer, struggles with attracting and training newcomers has put a damper on things.

“There are some 1,700 fewer staff hospital beds throughout the state of Michigan than there were pre-pandemic,” said Brian Peters, chief executive officer of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association (MHA). “We have lost staff—both frontline (and) clinical staff, as well as non-clinical staff, who are so important to making a hospital operate on a 24-7-365 basis.”

Overall, [Read More]

The Michigan Association of Health Plans is “hopeful” the recent $2.67 billion antitrust settlement with Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBSM) will encourage “employers and individuals” to consider other plans.

MAHP Executive Director Dominick Pallone said its member health plan providers are “pleased that the court has finally accepted the terms” of the landmark settlement against Michigan’s largest insurer.

“For years, the American Medical Association (AMA) has consistently ranked Michigan as one of the least competitive states in the nation for health insurance,” he said in a statement. “We’re hopeful that this settlement will raise awareness of BCBS’ anti-competitive behavior and encourage all employers and individuals shopping for health insurance coverage to regularly evaluate [Read More]

By LAUREN WEBER & SAM WHITEHEAD
As the country grapples with states’ newfound power to regulate abortion in the aftermath of this summer’s U.S. Supreme Court decision, state attorney general candidates are staking claims on what they’ll do to fight or defend access to abortion — and that’s attracting cash and votes.

“By pretty much every indicator there is in a campaign, the Dobbs decision has energized and supercharged our race,” said Kris Mayes, a Democrat running for attorney general in Arizona. “People are outraged about this, and you can feel it in the air.”

But they aren’t the only ones who may be testing the laws. The winners of local prosecutorial races will also [Read More]

By EWA MATUSZEWSKI
I mentioned in a recent column that teaching is one of my passions, which is why I’m so grateful to have this column as an educational platform to share what’s new in Michigan’s healthcare community. It’s not just news though; rather, an opportunity to learn what your local community is doing to promote better health outcomes – and encourage you to get involved. To that end, I’m excited about an initiative launched earlier this month by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services addressing the social determinants of health (#SDOH) in the COVID era.

With funding from the CDC and Center for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support [Read More]

By DUSTIN T. WACHLER
Following recent enforcement actions against a variety of telemedicine arrangements throughout the country, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a Special Fraud Alert to notify practitioners to exercise caution when entering arrangements with purposed telemedicine companies.[1] The telehealth arrangements described in the OIG’s Alert implicate multiple federal laws including, but not limited to, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, False Claims Act, criminal health care fraud statutes, as well as the OIG’s exclusion authorities related to kickbacks and Civil Monetary Penalties Laws provision for kickbacks. Additionally, such arrangements will also implicate state fraud and abuse laws related to [Read More]