News

A recent Modern Healthcare article suggests that hospitals’ charity care as a share of expenses declined between 2020 and 2023, but the authors’ own data tell a different story, write AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack and Catholic Health Association President and CEO Sr. Mary Haddad.

The Department of Health and Human Services Dec. 6 released a concept paper outlining its cybersecurity strategy for the health care sector, which builds on a national strategy President Biden released last year.

AHA Dec. 6 expressed concern that the outpatient prospective payment system final rule for calendar year 2024 contains an error that reduces reimbursement for hyperbaric oxygen therapy by over 40%, and urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to issue a correction establishing an accurate payment before Jan. 1.

A bipartisan group of senators this week introduced the Protect Rural Seniors’ Access to Care Act, AHA-supported legislation that would prohibit the Health and Human Services Secretary from finalizing a proposed rule on minimum staffing for long-term care facilities.

AHA Dec. 6 voiced support for a provision in the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act (H.R. 5378) that would suspend for two years the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital reductions scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 1, but urged House leaders to reject another provision that would permanently implement reductions to Medicare payments for drug administration services in off-campus hospital outpatient departments.

The Health Insurance Marketplace for the District of Columbia is encouraging labs to remove race as a variable in the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) formula commonly used to measure kidney function, as recommended by the National Kidney Foundation and American Society of Nephrology to support health equity.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dec. 4 released an interim final rule implementing new enforcement authorities the agency will use if states fail to comply with new reporting requirements as they restore Medicaid eligibility and enrollment operations following the end of the Medicaid continuous enrollment condition.

In a statement submitted to the Senate Finance Committee Dec. 5 for a hearing on drug shortages and potential health policy solutions, AHA reiterated its support for multiple bills in the Senate to address drug shortages and shore up the nation’s fragile pharmaceutical supply chain.

Health care and other organizations that operate Unitronics Programmable Logic Controllers should protect the devices from potential compromise through default passwords, U.S. and Israeli agencies announced Dec. 2.

A Russian national Dec. 4 pleaded guilty to his role in developing and deploying a suite of malware tools known as Trickbot, used to launch ransomware attacks against American hospitals and other businesses, the Department of Justice announced.

The Food and Drug Administration is evaluating Chinese-made plastic syringes used to inject or withdraw fluids from the body, citing concern that they may not provide adequate quality and performance, including their ability to deliver the correct dose of medication when used alone or with other medical devices, such as infusion pumps.

The AHA Dec, 4 released its 2024 Environmental Scan, which provides key data and insights on the current health care landscape and helps hospitals and health systems explore important issues with staff, leaders, boards and community stakeholders.   

Earlier this year, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, M.D., released the publication “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community”

North Carolina Dec. 1 expanded Medicaid to low-income adults under the Affordable Care Act and state legislation enacted in March.

In this podcast sponsored by Spacelabs Healthcare, learn how the company’s Rothman Index predictive analytics tool has helped employees and patients at California-based NorthBay Health.

Sean Fadale, president and CEO of Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Home in Gloversville, N.Y., will serve as 2024 chair of the AHA Rural Health Services Committee.

AHA Dec. 1 urged the Food and Drug Administration not to apply its device regulations to hospital and health system laboratory developed tests.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center is urging hospitals and other critical infrastructure to take immediate action to patch and harden network systems to protect against a significant ransomware threat, the “Citrix Bleed” vulnerability.

To support and advance those efforts, the AHA recently launched a new Patient Safety Initiative that seeks to energize all the work already underway and reaffirm hospital and health system leadership and commitment to patient safety.

In response to stakeholder feedback, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has extended through Dec. 14 the application deadline for the Making Care Primary Model, a new value-based payment model beginning next July in Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, upstate New York, North Carolina and Washington.