Iowa news
Ivy College of Business and Mary Greeley partner to offer health care management internships
The Debbie and Jerry Ivy College of Business at Iowa State University and Mary Greeley Medical Center have partnered to help give students studying health care management access to paid internships in the field. The two organizations signed a memorandum of understanding, effective March 1. As part of the new agreement, Mary Greeley will offer paid internship opportunities awarded on a competitive basis that align with the business college’s health care management curriculum. (Business Record)
Lee County EMS now is an essential service in Iowa
Lee County residents headed to the polls this week and now Lee County Emergency Medical Services is an essential service in Iowa. The vote was 1,606 to 496. Lee County EMS Director Mark Long said this should ensure emergency medical services continue in the county for the next decade. The Lee County Board of Supervisors now can impose a property tax of no more than 75 cents per $1,000 of assessed value on taxable property in the county to be used for funding of emergency medical services for up to 10 years. (WGEM)
National news
Struggling to Survive, the First Rural Hospitals Line Up for New Federal Lifeline
Guadalupe County Hospital, a 10-bed hospital in Santa Rosa, NM is one of the nation’s first to start the process of converting into a Rural Emergency Hospital. The designation was created as part of the first new federal payment program launched by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for rural providers in 25 years. Though it is not expected to be a permanent solution to pressures facing rural America, policymakers and hospital operators alike hope it will slow the financial hemorrhage that continues to shutter those communities’ hospitals. Facilities that convert will get a 5% increase in Medicare payments as well as an average annual facility fee payment of about $3.2 million in exchange for giving up their inpatient beds and focusing solely on emergency and outpatient care. Rural hospitals with no more than 50 beds that closed after the law passed on Dec. 27, 2020 are eligible to apply for the new payment model if they reopen. (Kaiser Health News)
Health information technology investment plummets in fourth quarter to $451 million
Venture capital investment in health information technology fell to $451.3 million in the fourth quarter, down almost 75% from 2021’s quarterly pace, according to a health information technology report from market researcher PitchBook. PitchBook analyzed VC and PE investment trends in health care information technology in the fourth quarter of 2022 and found the decline in health information technology investment is attributed to hospital and health system finances. Many have been reporting financial losses and are focusing on having the operating cash to keep business lines open, rather than devoting resources to technology. (Becker’s Health IT)
Federal Trade Commission extends comment period for proposed rule on noncompete clauses
The Federal Trade Commission extended until April 19 the comment deadline for its proposal to ban contractual terms that prohibit workers from pursuing certain employment after their contract with an employer ends. AHA and others had urged the agency to extend the original March 20 deadline by 60 days. AHA also had urged the FTC to withdraw the rule or exempt the hospital field, or at least physicians and senior hospital executives. The AHA encourages members to submit comments before the April 19 deadline. (American Hospital Association)