Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1275740
16 CFO / FINANCE 20 healthcare companies that returned PPP loans By Ayla Ellison T wenty healthcare companies returned more than $61 million in Paycheck Pro- tection Program loans they received through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, according to KAKE. Congress originally allocated $349 billion in PPP loans to help small businesses keep workers em- ployed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aer the initial funds ran out, Congress added an additional $310 billion. e Small Business Association and the Treasury Department issued dozens of guidelines aer the loans were distributed, including that borrowers must show that their loan request was necessary, and announced that loans over $2 million would be reviewed. Faced with the changing guidelines and the possibility of an audit, many companies decided to return the loans. Below are 20 healthcare companies that gave back their PPP loans, according to KAKE. 1. MiMedx Group: $10 million 2. WAVE Life Sciences: $7.2 million 3. Harvard Bioscience: $6.1 million 4. ADMA Biologics: $5.4 million 5. Aquestive erapeutics: $4.8 million 6. OptiNose: $4.4 million 7. Xeris Pharmaceuticals: $4.2 million 8. Neos erapeutics: $3.6 million 9. Chembio Diagnostics: $3 million 10. TransMedics Group: $2.2 million 11. BioLife Solutions: $2.2 million 12. Durect: $2 million 13. CHF Solutions: $1.7 million 14. CytoSorbents: $1.4 million 15. Motus GI Holdings: $780,942 16. Windtree erapeutics: $546,600 17. BioXcel erapeutics: $537,000 18. Soleno erapeutics: $350,445 19. Helius Medical Technologies: $323,000 20. Enochian BioSciences (Los Angeles): $272,700 n Tenet resumes plan to end inpatient care at Massachusetts hospital By Alia Paavola D allas-based Tenet Healthcare is moving forward with its plan to end inpatient services at its 160-bed Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick, Mass. The plan was delayed when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, according to the Worcester Business Journal. Despite announcing plans in January to phase out acute care and turn Leon- ard Morse Hospital into a specialized behavioral health campus by May, the facility continued to see emergency patients, and in mid-March shelved its plan to help combat a COVID-19 patient surge in the state. But in mid-June, Tenet said it intended to move forward with its plan to stop providing inpatient care and close Morse's emergency department, operat- ing rooms and intensive care unit. The Natick hospital will still offer psychiatric care, sleep lab services and CT imaging. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health must approve the change. Leonard Morse Hospital is part of the MetroWest Health System, which is owned by Tenet. n BCBS of North Carolina to pay primary care clinics to switch to value-based model By Morgan Haefner P rimary care practices in North Carolina may be eligible for increased financial support from the state's Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan as the insurer rolls out a new program aimed at helping the offices weather the financial crisis spurred by the pandemic. BCBS of North Carolina launched Accelerate to Value June 24, a program that will send direct payments to help independently owned primary care physician offices remain operational and also transition to value-based care. BCBS said the program will help ensure the long-term viability of primary care in the state. "Primary care providers across North Carolina are in a financial crisis. We have a duty and a desire to act," Rahul Rajkumar, MD, CMO and senior vice president at BCBS of North Carolina, said in a statement. Independent pri- mary care practices have faced sharp declines in revenue as patients post- pone nonemergent treatment due to COVID-19. Accelerate to Value's direct payments will be based on 2019 revenue and will begin by September. Providers who wish to partake in the program will com- mit to joining the insurer's value-based reimbursement model, Blue Premier, by the end of 2020. The practices can either join an existing ACO through a Blue Premier clinically integrated network or through Aledade, a firm that helps primary care physicians move to value-based reimbursement models. Additionally, starting in 2022, the practices can partake in a capitation pay- ment model, which allows them to receive fixed monthly payments instead of a traditional fee-for-service system.n