Becker's Spine Review

35 HEALTHCARE NEWS HCA Healthcare physician dies of COVID-19 after wearing same mask for weeks By Maia Anderson A n HCA Healthcare physician has died of COVID-19 after reusing her N95 mask for weeks, if not months, The Guardian reported. Adeline Fagan, MD, was a resident OB-GYN at HCA Houston Healthcare West who tested positive for COVID-19 in early July. In July, Dr. Fagan was working in the emergency department treating COVID-19 patients and, due to supply shortages, wore the same mask for "weeks and weeks, if not months and months," her younger sister told The Guardian. CDC recommendations state an N95 mask should be reused five times at most. On Sept. 19, at the age of 28, Dr. Fagan became one of over 250 medical staff who died in Southern and Western hot spot states during a COVID-19 surge over the summer. One in three health- care workers who have died of the virus nationwide had report- ed concerns of inadequate PPE, according to The Guardian. A national nurses union has complained of HCA Healthcare's al- leged "willful violation" of workplace safety protocols, including pushing infected staff to continue working. HCA Healthcare told The Guardian it wouldn't comment on the allegation that inadequate PPE supply contributed to Dr. Fa- gan's death. "Our protocol, based on CDC guidance, includes colleagues turning in their N95 masks at the conclusion of each shift, and receiving another mask at the beginning of their next shift," a spokesperson said. n 2 Minnesota health systems to split with Humana By Morgan Haefner M Health Fairview and CentraCare may no longer be considered in-network for Humana's Medicare Advantage members beginning next year, according to the Star Tribune. The change could affect more than 10,000 Huma- na members who receive care at M Health Fairview in Minneapolis, leaving them to pay higher out-of- pocket costs to access services at the health system. St. Cloud-based CentraCare did not say how many patients may be affected by the change. A Humana spokesperson told the Star Tribune that the insurer is open to continuing negotiations with the health systems and is "disappointed this is oc- curring — particularly at this time, during the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and immediately preced- ing the start of [open enrollment]." Open enrollment for Medicare Advantage begins Oct. 15. M Health Fairview told the publication its decision to split with the insurer is due to the "significant in- cremental cost of working with Humana to recover payments for services that we feel were denied in- appropriately to Humana members. We hope our patients will consider a different Medicare Advan- tage plan that includes M Health Fairview as part of its network." CentraCare told the Star Tribune that "effective Jan. 2, 2021, CentraCare will not be an in-network pro- vider in the Humana Medicare Advantage program. We are currently in the process of informing our pa- tients of their options, which are many." n Ransomware attacks in healthcare doubled in Q3 By Laura Dyrda D uring the third quarter of 2020, ransomware attempts increased 50 percent compared to the first half of the year, according to a Check Point study featured in USA Today. Five details: 1. e average ransom fees demanded to return data files is $1 million to $5 million. University of California San Francisco paid $1.14 million to ransomware attackers in June. 2. e percentage of healthcare organizations affected by ransomware attacks worldwide nearly doubled, from 2.3 percent in the sec- ond quarter, to 4 percent in the third quar- ter. In the U.S. there were 313 ransomware attacks in the third quarter, up from 158 in the second quarter. 3. Hackers target healthcare organizations because they are "the most desperate and willing to pay," Check Point spokesperson Ekram Ahmed told USA Today. "e biggest mistake they make is paying the ransom," he said. It becomes a vicious cycle from there. It funds their research and development." 4. Mr. Ahmed also said healthcare organiza- tions are easy targets because they are more likely to use older soware without updates. 5. Mr. Ahmed recommended healthcare or- ganizations back up their systems and not pay the ransom if they are hacked. n

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