Iowa news
Iowa Lutheran Hospital to close its birthing unit due to declining use
Des Moines’ Iowa Lutheran Hospital plans to close its 16-bed maternity unit, due to a drop in births there. The hospital’s owner, UnityPoint Health-Des Moines, told staff members about the decision Tuesday. (Des Moines Register)
Nurse returns from front lines
A MercyOne North Iowa nurse is back in Mason City after being on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. Jenni O’Donnell and nearly a dozen other nurses and doctors spent five weeks at the MercyOne hospital in Sioux City during the height of the surge. Much of her time was spent in the COVID unit, working with patients who were gravely ill. She says may of those patients were on ventilators and required one-on-one nursing care. O’Donnell does have an underlying health condition, but says her work in helping out those in need was more important than her safety. (KIMT)
UnityPoint Health agrees to $2.8M settlement in 2018 data breach case
UnityPoint Health has reached a $2.8 million settlement with patients and employees impacted by two data breaches at the health system. Phishing attacks that occurred in 2017 and 2018 at the health system compromised data on more than 1 million individuals, including patients’ protected health information. (Fierce Healthcare)
National news
15 top health systems, ranked by IBM Watson Health
IBM Watson Health has released its annual 15 top health systems ranking, recognizing the top-performing health systems in the U.S. To determine the health systems included on the list, IBM Watson Health researchers evaluated 332 health systems and 2,492 hospitals that are part of health systems, using publicly available clinical, operational and patient satisfaction data sets. (Becker’s Hospital Review)
Hospital groups urge HHS to delay price transparency rule
The AHA, Association of American Medical Colleges, Children’s Hospital Association and Federation of American Hospitals, which brought a lawsuit challenging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ hospital price transparency rule, yesterday urged the Department of Health and Human Services to delay the effective date of the rule until the matter is settled by the courts. (American Hospital Association)
Forget telehealth. The future of medicine could be drive-through doctors
Architecture firm NBBJ has come up with a new concept that could reduce the risk of contamination for patients visiting hospitals: a drive-through medical clinic. Although there have been plenty of drive-through testing facilities for those exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, a full care unit where doctors can treat patients in their cars is new. NBBJ—whose recent projects include Tencent’s new headquarters in Shenzhen, China, and buildings for the NYU Langone medical system — calls it The In Car Care Unit. And it has already drawn interest from two hospital clients in the Northeast. (Fast Company)