(EDITOR’S NOTE: The opinions expressed below are those of the author and not necessarily those of Healthcare Michigan or its publisher.)

By SUSAN ADELMAN, MD
One nation in the developed world stands out for its exceptional approach to the coronavirus pandemic – Sweden. While most Americans were locked down, we looked with jealousy at pictures of Swedes walking on the streets, seemingly unconcerned, living normal lives. How could they do that, and has it worked?

First, it is a myth that the Swedes have had no restrictions, but their rules certainly have been more relaxed than those in most of Europe or in the United States. While their schools remained open for younger [Read More]

By KIMBERLY RUPPEL
In this new normal we are experiencing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing and telehealth go hand in hand. Telehealth includes a range of technology, for example, the use of real-time video interaction, “store and forward” technology, remote patient monitoring or online chat groups.

Telehealth is particularly well suited for initial screening of patients and providing quicker and safer access to providers now, and also once we are safely beyond the current health crisis. As a result, this is a critical time for healthcare providers to encourage their patients to make use of this valuable tool and to implement or improve processes and systems already [Read More]

By STEPHEN SHAVER
The outbreak of COVID-19 sent shockwaves through the healthcare industry. Drastic declines in the hospital and healthcare provider revenue have hamstrung their ability to response to the outbreak and, in some cases, caused providers to shut down entirely. In response, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which included the creation of the Provider Relief Fund. The fund’s goal is to provide direct financial relief to hospitals and healthcare providers. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been charged with distributing the fund’s $175 billion war chest.

The fund’s distributions have been divided into general allocations, to be distributed to a wide [Read More]

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Opinions expressed here are those of the author and not necessarily those of Healthcare Michigan or its publisher)

By ALLAN DOBZYNIAK, MD
The reaction to the COVID-19 virus hysteria is financially devastating to Michigan’s hospitals and many others throughout the country and world. The burning question is whether all of this is necessary. Hospitals have been devastated by erroneous assumptions based on incomplete, premature and error-laden data. This has led to flawed models, given credence from a consensus of two physicians. Finally, politics has warped clear analysis and solutions. The idea that there might be a middle ground regarding hospitals’ economic vulnerabilities and that of the livelihoods of millions of [Read More]

By RACHANA PRADHAN & CHRISTINA JEWETT
A high-ranking federal official in late February warned that the United States needed to plan for not having enough personal protective equipment for medical workers as they began to battle the novel coronavirus, according to internal emails obtained by Kaiser Health News.

The messages provide a sharp contrast to President Donald Trump’s statements at the time that the threat the coronavirus posed to the American public remained “very low.” In fact, concerns were already mounting, the emails show, that medical workers and first responders would not have enough masks, gloves, face shields and other supplies, known as PPE, to protect themselves against infection when treating COVID-19 [Read More]

By EWA MATUSZEWSKI
Despite its high-tech sounding name and implications, telehealth is not new. Our own organization was using it years ago for a very challenged subset of society—teems who had urgent and ongoing mental health needs living in rural areas underserved by behavior health specialists.The grant-funded program was offered with the assistance of Michigan Medicine and I strongly believe it was a lifesaver for some teens. Despite relatively early adoption in this and other select cases, though, I certainly can’t brag that all of our practices were using—or even remotely interested (pun intended) in—telehealth. It was a continuum from zero awareness to occasional use. What a difference a pandemic makes!

Interestingly, [Read More]

(This story presented in cooperation with MIRS, a Lansing-based news and information service)

Multiple southeast Michigan hospitals are at capacity with COVID-19 patients and several more expect to hit capacity the first week of April as the number of patients continues to climb, according to the president and CEO of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association.

Michigan’s COVID-19 cases jumped to 6,498 by 3 p.m. March 30 with 81 percent still in the three-county region of Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties. Detroit continues to be the epicenter with 1,801 cases and 52 deaths.

With 134 hospitals statewide and roughly half in Southeast Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is accepting the U.S. Army Corps [Read More]

By RALPH LEVY
A recent Tax Court Memorandum decision, S. Ghadiri-Asli v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo 2019-149, serves as a reminder for healthcare providers to report properly all gross receipts and to substantiate business expenses claimed as deductions.

One of the two taxpayers, a physician, practiced medicine as a sole practitioner who specialized in infectious diseases. During the years in question, the physician’s billing and collection functions were performed by a third party outside billing service. All payments were remitted directly to the physician. Using the information provided by the physician to the billing service that included explanation of benefit (EOB) forms, patient face sheets and other correspondence received by the physician, [Read More]

By JONEL ALLECIA
An outbreak of coronavirus disease in a nursing home near Seattle is prompting urgent calls for precautionary tactics at America’s elder care facilities, where residents are at heightened risk of serious complications from the illness because of the dual threat of age and close living conditions.

The emergence of the novel contagious illness at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, Washington, has left one resident dead and four others hospitalized, with three in critical condition, local health officials said late last month. A health care worker in her 40s also remained in satisfactory condition. The resident who died was a man in his 70s with underlying health conditions, officials [Read More]

Michigan Chief Medical Officer Joneigh S. Khaldun told a Senate committee Feb. 27 that while there is no drug to attack the coronavirus, she and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services are working to utilize the tools they do have—screening, communication and education.

Khaldun told the Senate Health Policy and Human Services Committee, “If this were to come to Michigan, we’d be focusing on non-pharmaceutical intervention.”

Khaldun noted that the state is closely monitoring the spread of the virus. The Detroit Metro Airport is one of 11 airports across the country where U.S. citizens who are considered at high risk based on their travels can re-enter the United States.

A process [Read More]