News

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last week issued a final methodology and data sources necessary to determine federal payment amounts to be made for program year 2022 to states that elect to establish a Basic Health Program under the Affordable Care Act to offer health benefits coverage to low-income individuals otherwise eligible to purchase coverage through Health Insurance Exchanges.

The FBI and Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency July 4 released guidance to respond to the recent supply-chain ransomware attack leveraging a vulnerability in Kaseya VSA software against multiple managed service providers and their customers

The National Institutes of Health announced it will award up to $400,000 to fund groups or individuals looking to design effective, innovative methods for identifying complication risks in first-time pregnancies.

The Department of Health and Humans Services extended the designation issued Feb. 1 under Executive Order 13910 and section 102 of the Defense Production Act, as amended, for health and medical resources necessary to respond to the spread COVID-19 that are scarce or the supply of which would be threatened by excessive accumulation by people or entities not needing the excess supplies. 

The Food and Drug Administration July 2 authorized for emergency use one more batch of drug substance for the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine at an Emergent BioSolutions facility in Baltimore.

The AHA July 2 expressed support for the Drug-Price Transparency for Consumers Act of 2021 (S.2304). 

Implementing a human trafficking prevention program may seem daunting during the COVID-19 pandemic, but simple steps can get every hospital started, write Hanni Stoklosa, M.D., founding CEO of HEAL Trafficking and an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and George Askew, M.D., chairperson of the HEAL Trafficking Board and deputy chief administrator officer for Health, Human Services, and Education for Prince George’s County in Maryland.

Hospitals and health systems employed 5,500 fewer people in June, as U.S. jobs overall increased by 850,000, according to preliminary data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The White House plans to deploy COVID-19 surge response teams to help communities experiencing or at risk for hotspots due to the Delta variant and low vaccination with vaccination, testing, contact tracing, therapeutics and staffing, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients announced.

The Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center (CERT/CC), part of the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, reported a critical remote code execution vulnerability impacting the Windows Print Spooler service that allows a remote authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code with system privileges on a vulnerable system.

Founding Father John Adams believed that July 2, was the correct date on which to celebrate the birth of American independence, and he reportedly would turn down invitations to appear at July 4 events in protest.

The AHA presents the Foster G. McGaw Prize annually to recognize hospitals and health systems that are leading the way through innovative collaborations that improve the health and well-being of everyone in their communities.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response released an online calculator to help clinicians and health care facilities increase their capacity to administer monoclonal antibodies to patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 who are at risk for progressing to severe disease and hospitalization.

The Food and Drug Administration revoked its emergency use authorizations for all disposable respirators lacking National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health approval, and for decontamination and bioburden reduction systems used to extend the use of disposable respirators.

The Health Resources and Services Administration opened the Provider Relief Fund reporting portal for providers to begin reporting to the government that they used federal emergency relief funds for health care-related expenses or lost revenues attributable to COVID-19.

The departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury released “Part 1” of regulations implementing the No Surprises Act.

As urged by the AHA, UnitedHealthcare delayed indefinitely a policy that would have required in-network, freestanding and outpatient laboratory claims to contain a laboratory-specific, unique code for the overwhelming majority of laboratory testing services, in addition to the standard Current Procedural Terminology codes.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology released a definition of critical software, which the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency will use to develop a list of critical software products, as directed by President Biden in a May executive order on improving U.S. cybersecurity.

Engaging U.S. health systems to provide expert consultations to low- and middle-income nations receiving America’s donated COVID-19 vaccine can offer a “shot of hope” to global vaccination efforts, writes Luke Lindberg, executive director of global strategy, Innovation and World Clinic for Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, S.D.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Broomfield, Colo.-based SCL Health used its resources to dispatch nurses and caregivers where they were most needed, and has taken lessons-learned to better its future collaboration, communication and staff well-being