As COVID-19 cases soar, some healthcare organizations are running into challenges with securing, storing and utilizing necessary supplies, including personal protective equipment and COVID-19 tests.
On Nov. 10, the same day the U.S. marked its third record daily case increase in a week's time with more than 135,400 new COVID-19 cases, the CDC updated its face mask guidance to say that masks also protect the wearers, not just those around them.
Seven more updates on the healthcare supply chain:
1. Millions of COVID-19 diagnostic tests are going unused despite the U.S. conducting more tests daily than at any other point in the pandemic, according to The Wall Street Journal. In October, 34 million COVID-19 were given in the U.S., although the country had the capacity to run 106 million, according to HHS data cited by the Journal.
2. High demand for COVID-19 tests has drained resources for other types of tests, such as ones for strep throat, fungal infections and sexually transmitted diseases, The Wall Street Journal reported. A shortage of swabs, chemicals and other equipment needed to conduct and process tests has forced some labs to limit how many samples they can process and what diseases they can test for.
3. PPE supplies are running low at some Michigan health systems, The Wall Street Journal reported. Two-thirds of health systems in the state are reporting less than a three-week supply of one or more types of PPE as COVID-19 cases surge. Jeff Wagner, supply chain manager for MidMichigan Health in Midland, told the Journal his system's physicians and nurses are reusing masks with a decontamination system to make supplies last longer as it is facing its highest number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients to date.
4. University of Iowa Hospital & Clinics is seeking to rent a warehouse as PPE storage space for $1.35 million, according toThe Gazette. The Iowa City-based health system said that the pandemic has prompted it to stock up on PPE and it now needs space to store it. The board of regents will consider the system's request the week of Nov. 9.
5. After receiving more than $2.6 million from hospitals to supply them with personal protective equipment, a suburban Chicago businessman was charged with wire fraud, the U.S. Justice Department said Nov. 10. Dennis Haggerty allegedly spent part of the hospitals' money on personal items including two Maseratis and a Land Rover, and the masks that hospitals paid for were never delivered, prosecutors said.
6. Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare aims to cut supply costs by becoming a member of Vizient's group purchasing organization. Vizient, a healthcare services company, would acquire Intermountain's GPO as part of the deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021. Intermountain will also have the opportunity to join Vizient's pharmacy program to reduce its pharmacy expenses and minimize drug shortages, the companies said.
7. Accused of illegal drug distribution and insurance and identity fraud, Jason Kilvinger pleaded no contest to six felony counts, according to a Nov. 10 report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Mr. Kilvinger owned New Berlin (Wis.) Pharmacy, which closed in 2016 after law enforcement began investigating allegations of prescription and insurance fraud. A no contest plea means the defendant recognizes the criminal evidence against them will probably lead to a conviction but does not explicitly admit guilt. These pleas usually come when defendants and prosecutors work together to avoid a long and expensive trial.
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