Can Florida ensure tech advancements better connect patients and health providers?

| 12/5/2023

Can Florida ensure tech advancements better connect patients and health providers?

Technology could make health care more effective and cheaper. But what policy decisions do Florida lawmakers need to make to ensure evolutions in medical care help consumers? Sen. Jason Brodeur said the Legislature needs to take a multi-pronged approach to health care policy this year. Brodeur participated in a Florida TaxWatch panel on Thursday during which medical experts talked about the ways the medical practice continues to change. [Source: Florida Politics]

Proposal would ban non-compete agreement for doctors in Florida

State lawmakers are expected to make health care a top priority when they return to Tallahassee in January for the 2024 legislative session. One proposal would address Florida’s doctor shortage by getting rid of restrictions on where they can practice. Florida is on track to be short by nearly 18,000 doctors by 2035. The Florida Hospital Association said that’s because more people are moving here and the population is getting older. [Source: WCJB]

DeSantis wants health care plan that would ‘supersede’ Obamacare. What does that mean?

Seeking the GOP nomination for president, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he plans on unveiling a health care proposal next year that would “supersede” Obamacare. DeSantis didn’t outright say that he would repeal the Affordable Care Act, but the Republican hopeful said he wants to replace it with something that would lower health care costs and continue to guarantee coverage for people with preexisting conditions. More from the Miami Herald and The Hill]

Florida, 10 other states have ‘high’ or ‘very high’ respiratory illness; map shows where sickness is spreading

It’s not just you; a lot of people are sick right now. Tracking by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a jump in the number of states experiencing elevated levels of respiratory illness. A surveillance map, updated Friday, includes data through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. “Seasonal influenza activity continues to increase in most parts of the country, most notably in the South Central, Southeast, Mountain, and West Coast regions,” the CDC wrote in its report. [Source: WFLA]

Florida's review of Medicaid eligibility could lead to more than 250,000 uninsured, experts say

More than 250,000 Floridians could become uninsured because of the way state agencies are reevaluating eligibility for Medicaid, according to an analysis from public health policy experts at George Washington University. The analysis published Friday in the Health Affairs journal estimates that 169,000 adults and 84,500 children in Florida will not have insurance by spring, roughly a year after the process of reviewing people’s eligibility started. [Source: Florida Phoenix]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Central Florida health officials calling for more people to get HIV tests [Spectrum News 13]
About 1.2 million people in the United States have HIV and research by HIV.gov suggests about 13 percent might not know it. Central Florida health care providers are calling on more people to get tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Data from AIDSVu shows Orlando had one of the largest HIV rates in 2021 with more than 14,000 cases. That overall data shows the rate of black males living with an HIV diagnosis is about four times that of white males.

› Prosecutors call Florida nursing school ‘fraud’ ring that handed out fake degrees [Miami Herald]
A former registrar of a Palm Beach County nursing school served as the “right-hand” woman to the school’s owner as both schemed to lure in thousands of students and charge them millions of dollars for fake transcripts and degrees so they could qualify to attain licenses as nurses, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday during opening statements of a federal trial in Fort Lauderdale.

› FSU’s Business of Healthcare Summit to address crucial issues in keeping Floridians healthy [FSU News]
The Florida State University College of Business is bringing together health care leaders from throughout Florida and the U.S. for a comprehensive one-day forum to address the industry’s most pressing workforce, policy, financial and technology issues. The Business of Healthcare Summit, scheduled for Jan. 26 at the Augustus B. Turnbull Conference Center, will examine health care operations in the state and nation from the perspective of hospitals, private practices, health systems, policy boards and other professional organizations.

› Tampa General Hospital completes purchase of Bravera properties to form ‘TGH North’ [WUSF]
Tampa General Hospital on Friday announced it had completed the estimated $290 million purchase of Bravera Health properties in Citrus and Hernando counties from Community Health Systems. The transaction, announced in July, includes TGH Brooksville, TGH Spring Hill and TGH Crystal River, a freestanding emergency department, two ambulatory surgery centers, and 10 primary and specialty care clinics.

Tags: Health Care eNews

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