Becker's Hospital Review

38 CMO / CARE DELIVERY 100 top health systems urge public to #MaskUp By Erica Carbajal A s the U.S. faces daunting COVID-19 milestones, 100 of the nation's top healthcare systems issued a public service message Nov. 19 urging people to stay vigilant and "#MaskUp." e collaboration, Every Mask Up, shared the following message with news outlets through- out the country in an effort to reach as many people as possible to counter mask resistance: "As the top nationally ranked hospitals, we know it's tough that we all need to do our part and keep wearing masks. But, here's what we also know: e science has not changed. Masks slow the spread of COVID-19. So, please join as we all embrace this simple ask: Wear. Care. Share with #MaskUp. Together, wearing is car- ing. And together, we are saving lives." A video component reminds people that healthcare workers across the country have been pushed to the limit, and asks for a favor in return: "Wear. A. Mask." Rhoda Weiss, PhD, a national healthcare consultant and speaker who founded a na- tionwide health system coalition, helped co- ordinate health systems' participation in the initiative in partnership with Tomislav Mihal- jevic, MD, CEO and president of Cleveland Clinic, whose team developed and led cre- atives for the campaign. Dr. Weiss told Beck- er's it's an effort to be heard and get people to understand the severity of the situation. "e modeling is telling us there will be more people diagnosed with COVID-19 and more deaths," Dr. Weiss said. "Knowing what we know, it is wrong not to do anything. at's the point of the campaign — to save lives." Initially, Dr. Weiss said she expected about 25 top health systems to join the collaboration, but was able to reach 100 and plans to contin- ue growing that number. e campaign includes Rochester, Minn.- based Mayo Clinic; Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente; Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine and Cleveland Clinic, among many others. n Connecticut physician charged for 'super COVID tests,' patients say By Ayla Ellison P atients are questioning the testing and billing practices of a Connecti- cut physician who estimates he has tested about 60,000 patients for COVID-19, according to The New York Times. Eleven patients contend Steven Murphy, MD, used a drive-through COVID-19 testing site he ran in Bedford, N.Y., and others nearby to run unnecessary tests to get higher reimbursement from health insurers, according to the report. Billing documents reviewed by the Times revealed that Dr. Murphy did not just test patients for COVID-19 at the drive-through sites. He routinely billed health plans for a large panel test for at least 20 pathogens. In one example cited by the Times, Medicare paid $583 for a patient's drive-through test due in part to the large panel test. Medicare typically pays between $51.31 and $100 for a COVID-19 test. Dr. Murphy has defended his billing practices and said the larger panel test was reserved for symptomatic patients or those who needed their results quickly. Asymptomatic patients told the Times they had received the more expensive test. When one patient, Rebecca Sussman, inquired about her large bill, Dr. Mur- phy's staff described that larger panel test as "a super COVID test." "Dr. Murphy is a very thorough doctor," a staff member wrote in an email to Ms. Sussman, adding that patients at the drive-through sites are "tested not only for COVID but also for any other virus that may be active," according to the Times. Patients claim Dr. Murphy also charged their insurers hundreds of dollars for short phone calls to deliver the test results. One patient said her insurer was charged $340 for a 30-second phone call, according to the report. Dr. Murphy filed a lawsuit against Cigna Nov. 6, alleging the health insurer wrongfully refused to pay for members' COVID-19 testing. He claims Cigna told 4,400 members that he offers fraudulent COVID-19 testing sites and they would need to pay out of pocket if they were tested there. n Stryker recalls device for treating blood clots after 1 death, 11 injuries By Maia Anderson S tryker recalled a device in November intended to treat blood clots during a stroke after finding it may break during use. The devicemaker said it received reports of one death and 11 injuries related to this issue. Stryker said the device, called the Trevo XP ProVue Retriever, is intended to restore blood flow or remove blood clots in a blood vessel in the brain during an acute ischemic stroke. The company discovered that there's a risk the core wire may break or separate during use, which could cause the device to re- main inside patients' blood vessels or tissues. This may lead to bleeding, dis- ability or death. The company notified its customers and asked them to return the devices. n

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