Dear John,

ICYMI, we featured several of the authors from our housing and health theme issue during a briefing earlier this month.

Revisit the entire event at our YouTube page and if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to never miss any of our exciting video content!

In the Ahead of Print article published this week, John Bowblis of Miami University and his team of coauthors examine trends in the use of staffing agencies among freestanding nursing homes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The researchers find that between 2018-19, on average, 22.5 percent of nursing homes used any direct care agency nursing staff, but during 2022, this number rose to 49.1 percent.

Bowblis and coauthors also determine in 2022 that there was “significant variation in the use of agency staff across states.”

Vermont, New York, Maryland, and Pennsylvania had more than 70 percent of nursing homes using any direct care agency nursing staff, while Oklahoma, Alabama, Washington, DC, and Arkansas had fewer than 30 percent of nursing homes using agency staff.

The share of hours worked by agency staff also increased from 3.2 percent in 2018 and 2019 to 11 percent in 2022. 

An Overlooked Hospital Performance Metric: Bond Ratings

Lauren A. Taylor et al.

Toward Maternity Care APMs That Improve Outcomes And Equity

Carol Sakala and Megan Burns

Federal Policy Changes Must Occur To Provide A Lifesaving Stimulant Drug Intervention

Michael G. McDonell

Reforming The Medical Device Recall Process—A Call For Accountability

Kushal T. Kadakia et al.

Who Will Finally Put Diabetes On The Global Health Agenda?

Madison Featherstone

How Will Medicare Negotiate Drug Prices, And What Impact Will It Have?

Marc A. Rodwin and John D. Lantos

Knowing Actual Prices Will Help HHS Set The Maximum Fair Price Under The Inflation Reduction Act

Steven M. Lieberman and Paul B. Ginsburg

We are beyond excited to begin announcing the addition of new guest authors for our Insiders exclusive premium newsletters.

Starting next week, Brent Fulton of the University of California Berkley will be providing tremendous insight into the world of health care competition and antitrust.

Each month will be an opportunity to dive in deeper into this impactful topic and explore a plethora of engaging facets.

You may be quite familiar with Brent Fulton as he has contributed to Health Affairs for a number of years. His work with coauthors has been featured in the journal as well as in Forefront. He has even been a featured guest on A Health Podyssey.

To make sure you don't miss out on a single exciting edition, become an Insider today!

Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Ingrid Gould Ellen of the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service on how neighborhood environments can affect health and health equity. The discussion also considers how interventions at the neighborhood level could advance health equity.

Join us for the following events in February!

• February 22: Policy Spotlight: One-on-One with Micky Tripathi, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
• February 26: Journal Club: “Housing-Sensitive Health Conditions Can Predict Poor Quality Housing”