Plague

T he United States government has decided it is time to declare a formal end to the COVID-19 public health emergency. The end of the emergency is a time to reflect on what we have experienced and where we go from here. For over two years, I have led the Covid Crisis Group, a group of 34 experts originally formed with the goal of helping to lay the groundwork for an inevitable (we thought) National Covid Commission. We interviewed nearly 300 people. We organized task forces. We mapped out agendas. We shared insights across our different backgrounds and did a substantial amount of research. With an official inquiry nowhere in sight, our group felt we had to share what we have learned, in our just-published report, "Lessons from the Covid War." The members of our group are angry. They are angry because they feel that good Ame

How can Medicare payments to primary care doctors be fixed? Hoangmai Pham, MD, MPH, former official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) during the Obama administration, has a few ideas. How about two separate fee schedules? "Rather than insisting that CMS govern fees for all physician services in one fee schedule, set up two fee schedules -- one for procedures and one for what we would call evaluation and management services," said Pham, who is now president and CEO of the Institute for Exceptional Care in Washington, D.C. "Splitting up the fee schedule that way, it gives CMS a lot more flexibility to adjust the payment for primary care without necessarily affecting payments for other services, which is often where the political pushback comes from." Second, "give CMS new authority to create hybrid and capitated payment models for primary care," she said Thursday at an online event sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

New research led by Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Public Health found that integrating mental health services into pediatric primary care at federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) can improve access to and engagement in mental health care for Medicaid-enrolled children. This research compared healthcare utilization, psychotropic medication use, and follow-up care among Medicaid-enrolled children aged 3 to 17 years at FQHCs that had implemented a model of mental health integration known as TEAM UP for Children to FQHCs that had not implemented the model. Published in JAMA Network Open, this research offers the strongest evidence to date that this model of integrated mental health services can improve access to care. TEAM UP for Children—Transforming and Expanding Access to Mental Health Care in Urban Pediatrics— is a pediatric integrated behavioral health initiative co-developed by Boston Medical Center and seven FQHCs designed to improve access to high-quali

A blend of modern data systems and low-tech data products was best for internal surveillance and sharing the story of the pandemic in Texas. In this third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health practitioners, and specifically those who managed COVID-19 surveillance, data processing, and data dissemination, continue to reflect upon processes and products that worked well, could be improved upon, or could be utilized in a future pandemic or public health emergency response. In the Center for Health Statistics at the Texas Department of State Health Services, the COVID-19 Data Team produced several data products for surveillance and data dissemination over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic – an ArcGIS dashboard and website with data files updated daily (now weekly) for public download and use, as well as three internal surveillance tools, which we describe in our article "Creating Novel Surveillance Data Products for Briefing Health Department Leadership and Elected Off

FALLS CHURCH, Va.  –   Getting sick or injured is never convenient. Fortunately, getting urgent care can take away some of the inconvenience of minor illnesses and injuries.   "Urgent care is for when you can't wait for an appointment with your provider, but you don't need an emergency room," said Dr. Stacy Usher, lead nurse of Clinical Oversight and Integration for the TRICARE Health Plan.   But, before you go to your nearest urgent care center, make sure you understand your rules for getting urgent care.   "Your beneficiary category and TRICARE plan determine your rules for getting urgent care," Usher said. "Following these rules will help you keep your out-of-pocket costs as low as possible."   Read on to learn more about getting urgent care.   Q: How do I know if I need urgent care? A: Urgent care is f

A South County-focused reentry program is helping to transform the lives of individuals formerly incarcerated. The South County Reentry Resource Center in Gilroy is celebrating five years of providing crucial services to residents leaving jail and prison. Leaders said part of its success comes from partnering with Santa Clara County programs designed to break the cycle of incarceration and giving clients resources, financial assistance and social services. Javier Aguirre, director of the Santa Clara County Office of Diversion and Reentry Services, said reentry work is challenging as people have to change lifelong habits and overcome unemployment and homelessness. "But each year, we grow our reentry network and our tools for addressing those issues. We are seeing the fruits of our labors," he said. "By fostering partnerships and initiatives, we are able to make meaningful changes for our public services and the lives of our residents." The reentry ce

It's a "banquet of the unbearable," one character calls the show he's in — a chronological account of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, as captured in the short plays and songs that Suzan-Lori Parks wrote each day for a year starting on March 13, 2020. It might feel jarring initially that "Plays for the Plague Year" is being presented at a cabaret, Joe's Pub, with singing and dancing and a literal banquet:  an optional $45 three-course meal. The waitresses in masks snake around the candlelit tables to deliver your Poached Gulf Shrimp and Miso Glazed Eggplant while cast members periodically carry makeshift signs across the tiny stage marking a new gruesome landmark: 100,000 dead from COVID-19 on June 1, 2020; 500,000  on September 30; 1 million on December 27. But presenting this year-in-review as a revue proves surprisingly effective  – entertaining, evocative, provocati

ALTOONA, Pa. — John Eicher, assistant professor of modern European history at Penn State Altoona, was recently awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities for his work researching the 1918 influenza pandemic in Europe, historically known as the "Spanish flu." The fellowship is a multi-stage, highly selective process that supports scholars in the humanities via funding and support. According to the NEH website, fellowships are "competitive awards granted to individual scholars pursuing projects that embody exceptional research, rigorous analysis and clear writing. Applications must clearly articulate a project's value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both.  Eicher was one of 70 recipients chosen from a pool of over 1,000 applicants for the 2023-24 academic year. In addition, two other Penn State faculty members also received fellowships.  Eicher said he plans to use the funding to continue his current resear

"Every once in a while a book lands on your desk that changes the way you perceive the world you live in, a book that fundamentally challenges your understanding of human history." So began the blurb that came with this book. Aha! I thought. The usual advertising hyperbole, a gross exaggeration. Yet Pathogenesis did challenge much of my understanding of world history. Who knew that if it wasn't for an Ebola-like pandemic in the 2nd century CE, Christianity would never have become a world religion? Or that if it weren't for retroviruses, women would be laying eggs rather than having live births? (According to the book's author, a retrovirus inserted DNA into our ancestor's genome that caused the placenta to develop.) Image credit: Penguin  However, this is not another book of Amazing Facts: it is a work of scholarship, with nearly 700 references and notes. At the same time, it is very readable, and even amusing at times. Many books have been written a