The Gist Healthcare Podcast

As the country struggles with a shortage of inpatient behavioral health beds and mental healthcare providers, health systems are increasingly turning to telepsychiatry to meet the need. Geoffrey Boyce, CEO of Array Behavioral Care, a 23-year-old telepsychiatry group, says that health systems are seeking more comprehensive behavioral health solutions across inpatient, virtual and home-based settings, but regulatory barriers are standing in the way of more widespread adoption. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A record 14.5 million people signed up for individual market plans in 2022. Suicide attempts are up but the number of people seeking mental healthcare has remained flat. And STAT News reporting federal provider relief funds were used for covid drugs and vaccines. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Massachusetts General Brigham will need to come up with a plan for how to reduce its high spending. New research sheds light on factors that may lead patients to develop long COVID. Former North Carolina Secretary of Health Dr. Mandy Cohen will join primary care enablement company Aledade. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The American Hospital Association is pleading for government help with staffing shortages. Many health plans still aren’t complying with mental health parity rules. And Uber hires a chief medical officer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As US hospitals recruit nurses from overseas, the countries they leave behind struggle with shortages. Traditional Medicare beneficiaries are excluded from new at-home covid test coverage. And IBM sells its Watson Health assets to a private equity firm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Wes Ely, a pulmonology and critical care physician at Vanderbilt University and co-director of the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship Center, says while much of the current COVID focus is on acute infection, health systems must prepare to care for the millions of chronically disabled individuals with “long COVID.” Dr. Ely's research focus is on cognitive issues that ICU patients develop during or after their stays, some of which appear similar to long covid. Ely wrote about his efforts to reform intensive care in his newly released book, "Every Deep-Drawn Breath".      Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new Health Affairs study finds racial bias in patient notes. There are drugs being developed to treat Obesity, but a big hurdle getting providers to recognize it as a disease. And in some places, COVID appears to be receding as quickly as it surged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How much progress has President Biden made on his efforts to defeat the pandemic in his first year? A few weeks into 2022, digital health company Babylon Health already announced two acquisitions. And even though the US has two highly effective COVID antiviral medications, supplies are scarce and incredibly challenging to get. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Americans can now get free rapid covid tests sent right to their homes. Now that the Supreme Court has allowed the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers to proceed, hospitals have to reinstate requirements. And new research finds a link between the Epstein-Barr virus and multiple sclerosis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first conversation of the year Gist Healthcare co-founders, Chas Roades and Lisa Bielamowicz discuss the healthcare trends they're watching for 2022, including the next phase of the COVID pandemic, the challenge of rising labor costs, surging investment in digital health, and the shifting demographics of Medicare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.