TGIF

The President has signed into law H. Jt. Res. 31, a bill that funds the federal government through the end of this fiscal year, September 30, 2019. Because this bill covers OPM, its provisions include the standard FEHBP appropriations measures -- a provision restricting abortion except in cases of rape or incest or where the life of the mother is endangered, a provision mandating coverage of female contraceptives, and a provision prohibiting the application of full Cost Accounting Standards coverage to FEHBP carriers.

Healthcare Dive provides its perspective on the now concluded HIMSS conference.  Health Data Management suggests two ways for the healthcare industry to get quick returns from blockchain.

CVS Health this week highlighted its new HealthHub store. CNBC explains the concept here.  In short,

CVS is trying to leverage its ability to provide hands-on help with a new "care concierge" in the store who helps guide customers through the new health services and provides more care coordination between the pharmacy, the clinic and the other services.

CVS opened the three HealthHUBs in the Houston area in December. The company will use those locations to test the new services. [A CVS Health representative] said CVS won't turn all of its stores into HealthHUBs but will likely take individual pieces and roll them out across more stores if they're successful.

StatNews reports on the moderate efficacy of this season's flu vaccine.

Dr. Alicia Fry, head of epidemiology and prevention in the CDC’s Influenza Branch, cautioned against drawing too many comparisons at this point in the flu season. The season has been mild, Fry said, and there have been fewer infections than last year. That means there are less data on which to calculate the interim estimate.

Fry called the signs of effectiveness so far “encouraging” and said the level of protection provided by the vaccine is within the range of what one would expect during a flu season when H1N1 viruses predominate.

It’s also an improvement over last year, when the mid-season estimate of how the vaccine was working showed that about three-quarters of people who got a flu shot were not protected against H3N2 viruses, which were causing the most illness last year.