In the past two decades, only 44% of healthcare quality measures have improved, according to an updated report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from California, the District of Columbia, and Maryland.

• California: General Catalyst announced the launch of Maribel, a digital health startup with a $25 million investment. The startup will be led by former Mission Health CEO Ron Paulus and former Bayada Home Healthcare CMO Adam Groff. While the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last week may lead to financing difficulties for many digital health startups, Paulus said he is confident in the digital health startup because of the venture capital firm. "One of the beauties of having General Catalyst as a partner is they can be a long-term capital funder and invest across multiple stages," Paulus said Wednesday. (Perna, Modern Healthcare, 3/15)

• District of Columbia: President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at strengthening background checks for individuals purchasing a firearm. According to the White House, the move will get "the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible" without enacting legislation. "These are not controversial solutions anywhere except for in Washington, D.C., in Congress," a senior administration official said. "The majority of kitchen tables across the country — they support universal background checks. And the action the president is proposing — to move closer to universal background checks — is just common sense." While the order does not change government policy, it directs federal agencies to comply with existing laws and policies. "Let's be clear, none of this absolves Congress from the responsibility of acting to pass universal background checks, to eliminate gun manufacturers immunity to liability," Biden said. (Viser, Washington Post, 3/14; Miller/Long, Associated Press, 3/14; Ward, Politico, 3/14)

• Maryland: In the past two decades, only 44% of healthcare quality measures have improved, according to an updated report from AHRQ. Earlier this month, AHRQ released an updated version of its "Chartbook on Patient Safety," which reports on healthcare quality in the United States. It is based on data from 2000 to 2022 for over 440 measures of quality and disparities in the healthcare industry. To be included in a trends analysis, AHRQ required a minimum of four data points for each measure. Of the 176 measures that underwent a trends analysis, 43.8% improved, 48.8% did not change, and 7.4% worsened over the past two decades. Notably, 29 of the 176 quality measures included patient safety metrics, and 17 of these measures have improved. (Bean, Becker's Hospital Review, 3/14)