Enjoy Thursday’s NCMS Morning Rounds. April 8, 2021
Don’t forget tomorrow’s (Friday, April 9) Power Hour beginning at noon. Our guests will focus on black maternal health.
Health inequity in the US has become more apparent during the pandemic, with COVID-19 disproportionately ravaging populations of color. Statistics confirm similar health outcomes for this population in other areas like maternal health. The US has the worst maternal mortality rates overall compared to other developed countries, with black mothers at least three times more likely to die in childbirth than white mothers. Black babies have a mortality rate almost four times the rate of their non-Hispanic white counterparts.
Join us as we hear what some of our community members are seeing in this area and what actions are being taken to address and improve the health outcomes for black mothers.
COVID-19 Testing Pilot Program Underway
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), in partnership with Labcorp, is piloting a program to provide 35,000 no-cost, home test collection kits to North Carolinians receiving Food and Nutrition Services and/or are disabled and experiencing barriers to getting tested.
Eligible North Carolina residents can request a Pixel by Labcorp™ COVID-19 PCR Test Home Collection Kit be shipped overnight directly to their homes. The test kit includes test supplies (nasal swab, sample container, etc.), detailed instructions and prepaid specimen return shipping materials to make mailing samples back to Labcorp for testing easy and convenient. Results are typically reported back to the individual within 24 to 48 hours from the time the specimen is received at the lab. Once processed by Labcorp, test results are accessed by the customer via the Pixel by Labcorp website.
The program’s initial pilot is designed to provide testing resources to individuals with symptoms of COVID-19 or who may have been exposed and are members of the following eligible populations:
• Beneficiaries of North Carolina Food and Nutrition Services (formerly called the Food Stamp Program), who may have difficulty accessing existing state-funded testing sites and resources
• Persons with disabilities such as cognitive/intellectual, physical and sensory, substance abuse, mental health and other disabilities that impact their ability to access COVID-19 testing sites
It’s Not Too Late — Join the NCMS Book Club and Meet With Matt Haig!
The NCMS Book Club is currently reading the international best-seller The Midnight Library. We would love to have you join us for our current reading period culminating in a live, exclusive Q&A session with in-demand author Matt Haig!
There is no cost to participate in this club — you just need a copy of the book to enjoy. Book club members connect through a private online forum where participants discuss the book and learn from one another. Our book club will spend about 10 weeks on each book, so you’ll have plenty of time to read. Sign up here.
If you are not yet a book club member, sign up now so you can participate in what is sure to be an interesting conversation about what led Haig to write The Midnight Library and to ask him your burning questions. If you’re already a club member, you should have received the registration link to this exclusive event in your email.
Curi Acquires Health Care Data Analytics Company
Curi, which provides professional liability and other lines of insurance, wealth management and advisory services to physicians, announced that it has acquired the health care data analytics and advisory company, Arrowlytics. Building on an existing five-year relationship between the two organizations, the acquisition will strengthen Curi’s suite of advisory services for physicians and their practices by adding a data-driven solution to help their businesses thrive.
Arrowlytics’ Aspire platform pulls critical data from disparate sources into one system, allowing practices to monitor and improve results across a variety of performance categories—from online reputation management, to practice growth and optimization. Coupled with consultative support from a team of seasoned health care industry experts from both Arrowlytics and Curi, the solution will allow practice leaders to make more informed decisions to assess, adjust and ultimately grow their business.
“Running a medical practice gets more challenging every year, and we have been proud to help our member physicians and their practices navigate these challenges for more than four decades,” said incoming Curi CEO and NCMS Foundation Trustee Jason Sandner. “At Curi, we are always looking for new ways to support our members, and bringing the team and solutions from Arrowlytics into the Curi family will allow us to offer new data-centered solutions and services to the healthcare leaders that we serve.”
The Arrowlytics Aspire platform will support the advisory products and services that Curi has been actively developing with input from its member community for years—from enhancements to risk management, to health policy guidance, to practice retirement plan solutions, to well-being offerings, and more. The offering will be especially valuable in light of the numerous financial and operational challenges that practices are facing during this period of transition in service delivery models.
In the News
Will Vaccines Roll Out In Time To Stop Emerging Variants? Here’s What Experts Say, Advisory Board, 4-6-21
Learning Opportunity
2021 Virtual Primary Care Conference, April 7 @ 8 am – April 9 @ 5 pm
Conference tracks will cover areas including: billing and coding, clinical, executive leadership development, and care management, with sessions dedicated to COVID, social determinants of health, and diabetes care.
If you have policies you’d like your NCMS Board of Directors to consider, please complete the Board input form here. Thanks for reading!