hospitals
CT 7th best at social distancing, Fairfield leads CT counties
Last week, Connecticut residents did better than most Americans in maintaining social distance according to a University of Maryland model. (We slipped a bit on Saturday – to 18th among states.) The aggregate score uses the percent of us who stay home and reductions in trips per person. 35% of Connecticut residents stayed home last…
Read MoreUnder cover of the pandemic, OHS rushes controversial medical record exchange implementation
While most healthcare stakeholders and most of state government is focusing unprecedented efforts on protecting Connecticut from COVID-19, the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) continues its rush to implement a controversial plan to build their own Health Information Exchange (HIE). The rush is happening over objections from many stakeholder groups that they will need to…
Read MoreCT hospital and worker capacity lower than rest of US
As Connecticut and the rest of the nation faces the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital workers are on the front line. New analysis from the Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that Connecticut was behind most states in hospital capacity before the pandemic began. Last year, Connecticut ranked 11th among states in population per hospital at 31,274 Connecticut…
Read MoreWords matter – Unintended consequences of rush for COVID-19 treatment and poor communication
Scientists are under great pressure, internal and external, to find successful treatments for people seriously ill with the new coronavirus. Scientists are heroes, working with exceptional “vigor and speed” to find options. Unfortunately, sometimes that pressure results in early results being misunderstood and misused. Research conducted during a pandemic is not optimal for rigorous science…
Read MoreNew, confusing twist on state’s HIE plans to sell insurers access to personal medical records
In new information, the Office of Health Strategy says their Health Information Exchange (HIE) will not provide insurers or large health systems — Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) – access to individual patients’ data. Advocates and providers have raised concerns that access to personal medical records could allow insurers and ACOs to inappropriately limit care and…
Read MoreIs Connecticut ready for COVID-19?
Almost half (45%) of Connecticut adults have one or more clinical risks that could complicate COVID-19 infections, very close to the US average of 44%, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund. The report compares states across clinical risk factors of adults, state health system capacity, insurance coverage and other cost barriers to…
Read MoreCTNJ: The recession is here, and healthcare is in the center of it
After the longest economic recovery in US history, we’ve been expecting a recession for a long time. We knew when it came, Connecticut healthcare would be hit hard. But no one expected this. Connecticut didn’t fare well in the last recession and we took longer than other states to build back the jobs we lost.…
Read MoreMore HIE concerns from advocates and others
Public comment to the Office of Health Strategy about the state’s planned Health Information Exchange raised concerns, including those regarding privacy and selling/monetizing the data shared in the advocates letter. Connecticut’s three legal services agencies sent a letter with similar concerns on Friday. Advocates’ concerns were raised by members at last week’s online Health IT…
Read MoreWalletHub – CT third worst state for doctors
According to WalletHub’s latest rankings, Connecticut ranks 49th among states and DC for physician practice. Nationally, physician is the highest paying job but new doctors leave medical school with $194,000 in student debt on average. As we all may be relying on physicians and other healthcare providers during this crisis, remember that March 30th is…
Read MoreCommunity health center quality behind the rest of Medicaid
Download the report The good news is that Medicaid health outcome quality measures generally improved in all practice setting from 2016 through 2018. Unfortunately, community health centers (FQHCs) are not doing as well as their counterparts, either other Patient-Centered Medical Home practices (PCMHs), or non-PCMH practices in serving Medicaid members. This data comes from CHNCT’s…
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