Iowa news
Voters in 5 of 8 Iowa counties pass EMS essential funding
Voters in eight of Iowa’s 99 counties had EMS essential funding referendums on their ballots on Nov. 8. Five counties received the required 60% threshold to pass the ballot referendum. In Iowa, EMS is not considered an essential service, meaning there’s no guarantee or requirement that an ambulance will show up when someone dials 911. Voters in Jones, Kossuth, Osceola, Pocahontas and Winnebago counties passed the funding. Voters in Calhoun, Floyd and Worth counties rejected it. (KCCI)
MercyOne expands Clinton neurological care
MercyOne Clinton Medical Center has expanded its neurological telehealth services. The new service enables patients suffering a stroke or stroke symptoms to be seen quickly by neuroscience experts through remote video. Teleneurological services are available in Clinton through inpatient rounding, where physicians visit patients’ rooms and provide them with remote access to a neurological specialist for an assessment to diagnose, treat or manage conditions affecting the brain. During an emergency, the platform provides quick and easy access to a neurologist to provide efficient and rapid medical care. (DeWitt Observer)
Vaccination rate continues gradual increase as COVID-19 pandemic remains steady in Iowa
While the COVID-19 pandemic has held relatively steady over the past month, there’s been only a slight increase in the number of Iowans who are fully vaccinated against the disease, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The state health department, which reports vaccination data once per month on its public vaccine dashboard, showed an increase of 0.1 percentage points in Iowa’s overall vaccination rate since October’s update. A total of 59.7% of Iowans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. (Des Moines Register)
National news
Health systems getting big grants for EHR installs, upgrades
Small, rural and safety-net hospitals nationwide are receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funding and community grants to purchase, upgrade and install electronic health records. Gouverneur Hospital in New York received a $10 million rural development grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to tackle a few new projects, including an EHR installation. Rushville, Illinois-based Schuyler County Hospital District received $600,000 to purchase and install a replacement EHR. (Becker’s Health IT and CIO Report)
Leaked Amazon video shows new telehealth offering
Amazon quickly deleted a video posted on their YouTube channel that described Amazon Clinic, a potential new Amazon telehealth service focused on treating common conditions, like acne and allergies. The video described a telehealth service where patients could fill out a questionnaire about their symptoms and meet virtually with a clinician for a fee. Clinicians could diagnose the patient and provide prescriptions as necessary. According to the video, the potential telehealth services would be offered through “third-party healthcare provider groups.” (The Verge)
Study finds trust in local hospitals and health systems increased during the pandemic
Findings from NRC Health’s national Market Insights study reveal that people trust local hospitals and health systems far more than they trust federal, state and local government to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. NRC Health also found through its experience surveys that patients’ language preferences are a strong predictor of trust in health care providers and that trust in providers is not reliably related to political party. (NRC Health)