FDA warns that Abbot's rapid COVID-19 can return false negatives; Abbot claims test is being used improperly, launching new accuracy studies
While Elmhurst Hospital was overrun, other New York hospitals had thousands of available beds, inspiring New York to take public control of the city's hospitals
CVS plans to open 1,000 'Self-Swab' coronavirus test locations by end of May; Targeting processing 1.5M tests per month
Collective Health launching immunity passport tool for businesses and their employees; 'Collective Go' is separate from Collective's benefits business, doesn't share information with insurance, and is not limited to customers
Analysis: By distributing CARES Act relief funds according to patient revenue, HHS gave more than 2x the relief funds on a per-bed basis to hospitals that earn more revenue from private insurers
Trump administration to name Moncef Slaoui, former GSK vaccine head, to be 'therapeutics czar'; Will lead government efforts to speed COVID-19 vaccine development
After CEO promises U.S. first access to COVID-19 vaccine, Sanofi clarifies that U.S. will have primary access to vaccine produced in the U.S., while ex-U.S. manufacturing will go elsewhere
Epic CEO Faulkner says they're working on "immunity passport" technology to integrate with MyChart EHR; Will note if a patient has been tested and shown to have coronavirus antibodies
LabCorp makes at-home coronavirus testing kits broadly available to the public, with a physician authorization
23andMe to expand COVID-19 genetic study with 10,000 new participants who have been hospitalized with COVID-19; GWA study intended to uncover correlations between genetics and disease severity
Analysis: As of May 2, 27 million have lost employer sponsored insurance; 79% of those are eligible for subsidized coverage through Medicaid or subsidized exchange plans
ZocDoc to use Twilio video tech in new video consultation service; Twilio says healthcare usage of its service has increased 90% during pandemic
UK firm Intelligent Fingerprinting working with Imperial College London to develop fingerprint sweat based coronavirus test for use by non-medical personnel
Gilead agrees to royalty-free generic reproduction of remdesivir for 127 countries through duration of pandemic; United States not included
Mayo Clinic CFO notes hospital's 2020 financial outlook is much improved, in part due lower number of projected COVID-19 cases and resumption of elective procedures
Loosened telemedicine regulations have been a boon for streamlining delivery of addiction medicine, providing more comprehensive care
Following EUA for new antibody test, Abbot Labs expanding production capacity for coronavirus testing to 60 million per month starting in June
BurstIQ, Hitachi, and American Heart Association launch COVID-19 Data Challenge; Offering prizes to those who can identify meaningful links between COVID-19 and other conditions/SDOH
Republican senators introduce bill that would increase privacy protections for consumer data related to COVID-19 contact tracing; Bill is unlikely to get passed
Brick & mortar pharmacies seeing 20%+ uptick in mail-order business, while some delivery-only pharmacy startups are seeing 5x as many new customers during pandemic
Doctors are being forced to ration remdesivir supply; Have little to no data on which patients will receive greatest benefit
Deep dive into the technology and engineering behind ventilators, as well as emergency efforts, by both individuals and major companies, to design and build units to meet pandemic demand
CityMD mistakenly told 15,000 people who tested positive for coronavirus antibodies that they're immune
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations backs Phase I & II trials for Novavax COVID-19 vaccine; Pledge amounts to up to $384M
Kaiser Permanente reports Q1 loss of $1.1B driven by investment declines; Health plan & hospitals Q1 operating income $1.3B, down 1.7% YOY
Mayo Clinic and Ultromics researching use of AI image analysis for identifying high-risk COVID-19 patients using ECG readings
CMS circulates draft guidelines for reopening nursing homes; Industry says they're too vague, while experts say it's too soon to reopen
Analysis: Estimated potential spending on COVID-19 care would amount to between 1% - 5.6% of projected total health care spend for 2020; Much less severe than prior projections
HHS outlines plan for remdesivir distribution: drug supply will be given over to states, whose health departments will distribute to hospitals based on determinations of need
At least three recently bankrupt hospitals have sued for access to the SBA Paycheck Protection Program to pay their staffs and keep doors open
CDC study shows steep declines in number of routine vaccinations performed on children during the pandemic
How concierge doctors help patients operate outside the healthcare system, including getting them sought after coronavirus tests
MA, NY, CA pursue traditional human-based contact tracing strategy, shunning digital solutions; Experts push for human-based national strategy
Healthcare loses 1.4 million jobs in April; Dental accounts for 36%, physicians' offices 17%, hospitals 9.6%
Analysis: Strategic differences have led CVS deeper into healthcare, while Walgreens has focused on enriching their core retail business. Both companies are being tested by the pandemic.
California hospitals are asking the state for $1B in relief to stave off pay cuts & furloughs; Would be in addition to $3B in federal relief already received
GoodRx launches tool to let patients compare lab testing prices across 10 different providers and 18 test types, including coronavirus
Analysis: Predicting the effects of the COVID crisis on virtual care, value-based care, supply chains, physical practice design, and health IT
FDA grants EUA for Sherlock Biosciences' CRISPR-based coronavirus test; First CRISPR product through the FDA
Google.org pledges additional $50M to support a wide variety of COVID-19 response efforts; Includes funds for frontline workers, the WHO, public health data analytics efforts
UnitedHealth Group is offering 5-20% premium credits for some plans during pandemic; Company says credits will total $1.5B
Apple contributed $10M from its advanced manufacturing fund to help a company producing COVID-19 sample collection kits; First grant from this fund unrelated to Apple's supply chain
Amazon is funding research, contributing staff, and offering services like delivery of test kits to help fight COVID-19
Opaque government process for distributing limited supply of remdesivir is leaving some COVID-19 hotspots without the new drug and no understanding of how they can get it
Department of Homeland Security warns that state-sponsored hackers are targeting healthcare organizations involved in COVID-19 response, including pharma and research entities
