Today’s NewsStand

Today’s NewsStand

By |
|October 21, 2021

Iowa news

Des Moines pharmacy staff shortages lead to long waits and closures

Some Walgreens pharmacies around the Des Moines metro are reducing their hours or closing altogether on weekends. Customers in the city and nationwide are waiting longer to pick up their prescriptions and sometimes for more than a day. Local experts say it’s a sign of the burnout pharmacy staff may be feeling. (Axios)

Iowa has plenty of COVID-19 shots for boosters as feds expand eligibility, state health leader says

Iowans hoping to get another COVID-19 shot won’t have to scramble for appointments, the way many did last winter, the state’s top health official said. Iowa has an ample supply of vaccines, and health care providers have worked for months to fix kinks in the process, said Kelly Garcia, interim director of the Iowa Department of Public Health. (Des Moines Register)

Additional public comment being taken for proposed hospital expansion project

Spencer’s city council long-range planning committee will discuss the proposed hospital expansion next Wednesday night. Mayor Kevin Robinson says the official public hearing has already been held, but they will take input from citizens at the committee meeting. (KICD)

National news

Public officials threaten physicians over COVID-19 care

Three public officials threatened physicians at a Montana hospital after they refused to treat a COVID-19 patient with ivermectin, a drug to treat parasites that is not federally approved to treat the respiratory disease, officials of St. Peter’s Health in Helena said. (US News)

Radiologists launch coalition to fight $5B in federal payment cuts

The Radiology Business Management Association in Fairfax, Virginia, has launched a coalition dubbed the Radiology Patient Action Network to prevent more than $5 billion in federal payment cuts. The coalition is asking Congress to extend the 3.75% conversion factor relief and extend the sequestration moratorium to prevent the reductions. (Becker’s Hospital Review)

Interventions to save $265B in health care administration

A new report lays out a roadmap for health systems and hospitals about how to save $265 billion on administrative spending for reinvestment across other areas. According to the report, medical spending makes up three-quarters of the nearly $4 trillion spent on health care in the US. The authors targeted the remaining quarter of total US health care spending that goes into administration and parsed out which of that spending was necessary and which was unnecessary. (Becker’s Hospital Review)

Become a hospital advocate. Sign up for IHA Action Alerts.

Click here