The Gist Healthcare Podcast

After blowback, UnitedHealthcare delays its policy of not covering emergency department visits it deems unnecessary. Datavant and Ciox Health announce plans to merge.  And Biogen’s newly approved Alzheimers has a huge price tag. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The heart rate, sleep and exercise data Apple devices capture can now be sent to your electronic health record. Hospitals start enforcing vaccine mandates and penalties for non compliance. And the pandemic has changed how we use the emergency department. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Retail giants Amazon and Walmart go head to head with competing pharmacy offerings. UnitedHealthcare will start denying emergency department claims if it deems a past visit to the ER nonemergent. One for-profit and one nonprofit medical school look to expand in Montana. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One Medical is acquiring senior-focused primary care company Iora Health. The FDA approves the first Alzheimers drug in 18 years. And Colorado Children's Hospital is so overwhelmed with pediatric mental health patients, last month it declared a state of emergency.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Now that vaccinated Americans are out and about, get ready for those seasonal viruses to make a comeback. Physician Assistants vote to change their title. And Dr. B promised to match leftover vaccine doses to recipients, but it's unclear the service actually helped any patients get shots.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Companies are offering free baseball tickets, beer, flights with vaccines. Democrats are trying to find a federal work-around to expand Medicaid in holdout states. And a UK telemedicine company is buying up large numbers of doctors in the US. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the debate around employers requiring workers to get the COVID-19 vaccination continues, another system announced a mandate. Greensboro, NC-based Cone Health and Norfolk, VA-based Sentara Healthcare call off merger plans. And Nevada legislators send a public option bill to the governor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Bryan Kibbe, a clinical ethicist at Marietta, GA-based Wellstar Health System discusses factors systems are considering as they decide whether to make the COVID vaccine mandatory for employees. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Houston Methodist CEO Dr. Marc Boom discusses how the health system decided to become the first in the nation to require its workforce to receive the COVID vaccine. Boom says the requirement was intended to get to the “last mile” of full vaccination, and now more than 98 percent of the system’s staff are immunized.    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 60 is getting a surprising amount of support from centrist Democrats. Many employers are encouraging employees to get vaccinated but stopping short of mandates. And Colorado is offering to pay hospitals to close free-standing emergency rooms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.