Medicare Program; Negotiated Rulemaking Coverage and Administrative Policies for Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Services. Letter to Health Care Financing Administration.

Medicare Program; Negotiated Rulemaking Coverage and Administrative 2000 Medicare Documentation Guidelines (DGs) for Evaluation and Management (E/M) Services . Letter to Health Care Financing Administration.

Letter to CMS regarding the New Mexico Centennial Care Medicaid Waiver

ACP Letter to ONC Providing Feedback on Health IT Playbook

ACP letter of support for the Medicare SGR Repeal and Beneficiary Access Improvement Act, S. 2110

Letter to CMS regarding the Kentucky HEALTH 1115 waiver

Joint Letter to Trump Administration Reaffirming Support and Safety of Vaccines

Joint Letter Supporting a Ban on Tobacco Use in Major League Baseball Stadiums

Joint Comment Letter to EPA Regarding National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants from Secondary Lead Smelting Technology Review Proposed Rule

ACP Comments to HITPC-Stage 3 MU-Cover Letter

College Campuses and COVID-19 Mitigation: Clinical and Economic Value

Background: Colleges in the United States are determining how to operate safely amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Objective: To examine the clinical outcomes, cost, and cost-effectiveness of COVID-19 mitigation strategies on college campuses. Design: The Clinical and Economic Analysis of COVID-19 interventions (CEACOV) model, a dynamic microsimulation model, was used to examine alternative mitigation strategies. The CEACOV model tracks infections accrued by students and faculty, accounting for community transmissions. Data Sources: Data from published literature were used to obtain parameters related to COVID-19 and contact-hours. Target Population: Undergraduate students and faculty at U.S. colleges. Time Horizon: One semester (105 days). Perspective: Modified societal. Intervention: COVID-19 mitigation strategies, including social distancing, masks, and routine laboratory screening. Outcome Measures: Infections among students and faculty per 5000 students and per 1000 faculty, isolation days, tests, costs, cost per infection prevented, and cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). Results of Base-Case Analysis: Among students, mitigation strategies reduced COVID-19 cases from 3746 with no mitigation to 493 with extensive social distancing and masks, and further to 151 when laboratory testing was added among asymptomatic persons every 3 days. Among faculty, these values were 164, 28, and 25 cases, respectively. Costs ranged from about $0.4 million for minimal social distancing to about $0.9 million to $2.1 million for strategies involving laboratory testing ($10 per test), depending on testing frequency. Extensive social distancing with masks cost $170 per infection prevented ($49 200 per QALY) compared with masks alone. Adding routine laboratory testing increased cost per infection prevented to between $2010 and $17 210 (cost per QALY gained, $811 400 to $2 804 600). Results of Sensitivity Analysis: Results were most sensitive to test costs. Limitation: Data are from multiple sources. Conclusion: Extensive social distancing with a mandatory mask-wearing policy can prevent most COVID-19 cases on college campuses and is very cost-effective. Routine laboratory testing would prevent 96% of infections and require low-cost tests to be economically attractive. Primary Funding Source: National Institutes of Health.

Put Your Own Oxygen Mask On First

Telemedicine and Office-Based Care for Behavioral and Psychiatric Conditions During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

Fighting Prejudice and Absorbing Refugees From Nazism: The National Committee for the Resettlement of Foreign Physicians, 1939–1945

In the 1930s and 1940s, the medical profession reacted with hostility and erected formidable barriers to refugee physicians from Nazi-dominated Europe who sought to practice medicine in the United States. Yet, refugee physicians ultimately succeeded, with 77% of them working as doctors by 1945 and 98.6% by 1947. Although physician skills are readily transferable, and the United States had a genuine need for doctors after World War II drew 55 000 physicians into the military, refugee physicians' success can be attributed to the courageous physician leaders who lobbied on their behalf and the creation of the National Committee for the Resettlement of Foreign Physicians—an organization that helped immigrant physicians pass licensing examinations, identify locations for employment, and overcome barriers to integration into American society.

Update Alert 2: Epidemiology of and Risk Factors for Coronavirus Infection in Health Care Workers

Reopening Colleges and Universities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Stepped Exercise Program for Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial: Annals of Internal Medicine: Vol 174, No 3

Background: Evidence-based models are needed to deliver exercise-related services for knee osteoarthritis efficiently and according to patient needs. Objective: To examine a stepped exercise program for patients with knee osteoarthritis (STEP-KOA). Design: Randomized controlled trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02653768) Setting: 2 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs sites. Participants: 345 patients (mean age, 60 years; 15% female; 67% people of color) with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Intervention: Participants were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to STEP-KOA or an arthritis education (AE) control group, respectively. The STEP-KOA intervention began with 3 months of an internet-based exercise program (step 1). Participants who did not meet response criteria for improvement in pain and function after step 1 progressed to step 2, which involved 3 months of biweekly physical activity coaching calls. Participants who did not meet response criteria after step 2 went on to in-person physical therapy visits (step 3). The AE group received educational materials via mail every 2 weeks. Measurements: Primary outcome was Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score. Scores for the STEP-KOA and AE groups at 9 months were compared by using linear mixed models. Results: In the STEP-KOA group, 65% of participants (150 of 230) progressed to step 2 and 35% (81 of 230) to step 3. The estimated baseline WOMAC score for the full sample was 47.5 (95% CI, 45.7 to 49.2). At 9-month follow-up, the estimated mean WOMAC score was 6.8 points (CI, −10.5 to −3.2 points) lower in the STEP-KOA than the AE group, indicating greater improvement. Limitation: Participants were mostly male veterans, and follow-up was limited. Conclusion: Veterans in STEP-KOA reported modest improvements in knee osteoarthritis symptoms compared with the control group. The STEP-KOA strategy may be efficient for delivering exercise therapies for knee osteoarthritis. Primary Funding Source: Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research and Development Service.

Feasibility of Separate Rooms for Home Isolation and Quarantine for COVID-19 in the United States

Addressing Postpandemic Clinician Mental Health: A Narrative Review and Conceptual Framework: Annals of Internal Medicine: Vol 173, No 12

Previous pandemics have seen high psychiatric morbidity among health care workers. Protecting clinician mental health in the aftermath of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) requires an evidence-based approach to developing and deploying comprehensive clinician mental health support. In a narrative review of 96 articles addressing clinician mental health in COVID-19 and prior pandemics, 7 themes emerged: 1) the need for resilience and stress reduction training; 2) providing for clinicians' basic needs (food, drink, adequate rest, quarantine-appropriate housing, transportation, child care, personal protective equipment); 3) the importance of specialized training for pandemic-induced changes in job roles; 4) recognition and clear communication from leadership; 5) acknowledgment of and strategies for addressing moral injury; 6) the need for peer and social support interventions; and 7) normalization and provision of mental health support programs. In addition to the literature review, in collaboration with the Collaborative for Healing and Renewal in Medicine (CHARM) network, the authors gathered practice guidelines and resources from health care organizations and professional societies worldwide to synthesize a list of resources deemed high-yield by well-being leaders. Studies of previous pandemics demonstrate heightened distress in health care workers years after the event. The COVID-19 pandemic presents unique challenges that surpass those of previous pandemics, suggesting a significant mental health toll on clinicians. Long-term, proactive individual, organizational, and societal infrastructures for clinician mental health support are needed to mitigate the psychological costs of providing care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Racism and Health in the United States: A Policy Statement From the American College of Physicians

Racial minorities in the United States have reported experiencing widespread racism throughout all aspects of life, from housing to education to employment. Existing research has examined the role of racism, discrimination, and violence in one's interaction with the health care system and their association with poorer mental and physical health. Systemic racism that underlies the fabric of society often manifests itself in prominent institutions, such as law enforcement agencies, regardless of individual intent. Overt and covert racist laws and policies, personal implicit biases, and other factors result in Black individuals and other people of color being the subject of law enforcement violence and criminal justice system interactions at disproportionately high rates. The demonstrated association between discriminatory law enforcement practices and violence and personal and community health necessitates treating these issues as public health issues worthy of a public policy intervention. Addressing some of the sources of institutional racism and harm through transparency and accountability measures is the first of many steps required to begin correcting historical racial injustices.

De-Mentored | ACP Hospitalist

Bundling consent in the ICU | ACP Hospitalist

Pulmonary rehab, thiamine for sepsis, and more | ACP Hospitalist

Why and how to apologize | ACP Hospitalist

Syncope, sepsis resuscitation, and more | ACP Hospitalist

Nutrition, contrast and AKI, and more | ACP Hospitalist

Troponin, vitamin D, and more | ACP Hospitalist

Bedside sitters, pneumothorax, and more | ACP Hospitalist

Fecal transplants, contrast, and more | ACP Hospitalist

Transitions of care, readmissions, and more | ACP Hospitalist