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Azar: US to change COVID-19 vaccine allocation methods

To expedite the COVID-19 vaccination pace and make more shots available to the public, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said the federal government is changing its vaccine allocation method by prioritizing states that can quickly administer the vaccines and the size of the over-65 population, rather than focusing on the size of the population in total. The administration will also begin distributing all reserved COVID-19 vaccine doses and encourage states to give vaccines to people ages 65 and older, as well as anyone under 65 with underlying health conditions. The Hill (1/12) Learn More

Clinical concerns stall use of COVID-19 antibody therapy

Operation Warp Speed officials said over half of the more than 641,000 monoclonal antibody treatments allocated for outpatients with COVID-19 have not been used because of concerns about best practices. Committees from the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the NIH have said more evidence is needed on the efficacy of monoclonal antibody treatments and which patients may benefit most. Medscape (free registration) (1/12) Learn More

Expanding HHVBP Model could save $6.3B in 10 years

A national expansion of the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model that was recently proposed by the HHS could generate around $6.3 billion in savings over a 10-year period, according to estimates from research firm The Moran Company. Federal statistics showed that even the limited HHVBP Model implementation helped improve home health agencies' quality scores by 4.6% and saved Medicare an average of $141 million per year. Home Health Care News (1/12) Learn More

Left-handedness brings challenges for cardiology trainees

Left-handed trainees are a minority cohort in US cardiovascular fellowship programs but they can face challenges performing common procedures because most are set up for the right-handed majority, according to a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. "We hope that acknowledgement, support, and minor modifications in work flow will allow a lot of young trainees in the early part of their career to stay on course and realize their full potential in this procedural specialty," said researcher Dr. Prashant Patel, who is left-handed. Medscape (free registration) (1/11) Learn More

Hospitals will be asked to report COVID-19 vaccination data

HHS announced Tuesday that it will ask hospitals to report how many health care professionals and patients have received COVID-19 vaccines weekly. Senior HHS officials said the vaccination data will help federal agencies anticipate the need for protective equipment and ensure COVID-19 shots are distributed equally. The Wall Street Journal (1/12) Learn More

FP: Value-based contracts offer reliable revenue stream

Texas family physician Tim Irvine, M.D., says value-based payment contracts offer a reliable revenue stream. Joe Nicholson, D.O., of the consulting firm CareAllies, says practices should gradually transition to value-based payments by increasing the percentage of revenue tied to risk-based contracts over time. Medical Economics (1/11) Learn More

HRSA awards $8M to boost rural telehealth access

The HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration awarded $6.5 million to the National Telehealth Technology Assessment Resource Center to implement the Telehealth Broadband Pilot program in rural areas of Alaska, Michigan, Texas and West Virginia. The HRSA also awarded $1.5 million to the University of Arkansas' Telehealth-Focused Rural Health Research Center to serve as a resource on telehealth for rural communities nationwide. Healthcare Finance (1/11) Learn More

Cardiovascular Quality and Research News

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