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By contributing to the development of chronic disease and death, a group of hormone-disruptive plastic chemicals is costing the US health care system billions — over $249 billion in 2018 alone, a new study found. (LaMotte, 1/11)

A study today in the American Journal of Infection Control illustrates the challenges hospitals face in trying to control the type of microbial contamination that can contribute to the spread of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The study found that several high-touch surfaces in the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, including bed rails and nurse's station keyboards, harbored multiple colonies of bacteria despite the hospital's adherence to routine disinfection strategies. Of the 60 different types of pathogens isolated, 7 were classified as important in healthcare settings because of their potential to cause HAIs. (Dall, 1/11)

More providers are billing patients for electronic messages exchanged through patient portals, according to a new study. The practice of e-visits, as it is known, took off at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Claims for the services peaked in April 2020 before falling to a low in June 2021, according to a wide-ranging study of claims data. However, those claims began rising again in 2022. (DeSilva, 1/11)

Health insurance companies are having some success persuading states to boost Medicaid capitation rates amid risk pools that have worsened during the ongoing redeterminations process. Insurers such as Centene and Molina Healthcare have securing additional financing over the past year as more than 14 million people lost Medicaid coverage while states carry out unwinding the continuous coverage policy implemented early in the COVID-19 pandemic, which expired last year. (Tepper, 1/11)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Rural Hospitals Are Caught In An Aging-Infrastructure Conundrum 

Kevin Stansbury, the CEO of Lincoln Community Hospital in the 800-person town of Hugo, Colorado, is facing a classic Catch-22: He could boost his rural hospital’s revenues by offering hip replacements and shoulder surgeries, but the 64-year-old hospital needs more money to be able to expand its operating room to do those procedures. “I’ve got a surgeon that’s willing to do it. My facility isn’t big enough,” Stansbury said. “And urgent services like obstetrics I can’t do in my hospital, because my facility won’t meet code.” (Hawryluk, 1/12)

Researchers at Mass General Brigham have found that finely tuned generative artificial intelligence models can extract social determinants of health data from doctors’ notes and the electronic health record system. The peer-reviewed study from researchers at the Boston-based system highlight a potentially important use case for generative AI as providers work toward a more well-rounded understanding of the factors that affect a patient's health. (Perna, 1/11)