Sam Whitehead - KFF Health News

“Certificate of need” laws, largely supported by the hospital industry, limit health facility construction in 35 states and Washington, D.C. Georgia lawmakers decided its law was complicating the reviving of two hospitals critical to their communities.

The EPA is tightening regulation of ethylene oxide, a carcinogenic gas used to sterilize medical devices. The agency is trying to balance the interests of the health care industry supply chain with those of communities where the gas creates airborne health risks.

To contain the opioid crisis, agencies have turned to technology to monitor prescription data. Experts have raised questions about how these systems work and worry about their accuracy and potential biases.

In February 2020, U.S. public health labs received flawed COVID tests from the CDC. As the agency revamps, efforts to be better prepared for future threats won’t be easy, observers say.

The pandemic gave federal officials expanded power to access crucial data about the spread of COVID-19, but that authority will change when the public health emergency sunsets in May.

The plan launched in 2019 has generated ways to reach at-risk populations across the South. But health officials, advocates and people living with HIV worry significant headwinds will keep the program from reaching its goals.

In November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines for prescribing opioids for pain, allowing physicians more flexibility. But doctors, patients, and advocates wonder if the updated standards will be too little, too late to help chronic pain patients in a country still focused on fighting the ongoing opioid crisis.

The network would let parts of the health system share information during emergencies. It still hasn’t been planned, even after the communication and data-sharing failures put on display during the pandemic.

The many options — particularly urgent care and free-standing ERs — can make the head spin. The wrong choice can mean big bills and even poor outcomes. Facilities have little incentive to clear up the confusion.