News

While counseling and other services are an important part of a comprehensive treatment plan for opioid use disorder, the provision of medication should not be made contingent upon participation in such services, the Food and Drug Administration and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration told health care providers in guidance intended to clarify buprenorphine prescribing recommendations.

Hospitals may continue to bill through calendar year 2023 for certain outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech language pathology services, Diabetes Self-Management Training, and Medical Nutrition Therapy provided by hospital staff to Medicare beneficiaries in their homes through telecommunication technology, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said in an update to a FAQ on the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

In a statement submitted to the House Ways and Means Committee for a hearing May 16 on health care price transparency, AHA recommended Congress and the Administration streamline existing hospital price transparency requirements to reduce potential patient confusion and unnecessary regulatory burden on providers, and refrain from advancing legislation or regulations that make it harder to provide meaningful price estimates.

A new AHA case study highlights innovative strategies from New York-Presbyterian to reduce workplace violence risk.  

The Health Resources and Services Administration announced a new toll-free number (1-833-TLC-MAMA) and promotional toolkit for its National Maternal Mental Health Hotline for pregnant and postpartum individuals with mental health concerns.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a FAQ regarding Consolidated Appropriations Act changes for states redetermining Medicaid enrollee eligibility due to the March 31 end of the COVID-19 pandemic’s continuous enrollment requirement.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services announced plans to start an AHA-opposed demonstration for inpatient rehabilitation facilities Aug. 21 in Alabama and expand it to additional states at an undetermined date.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit temporarily restored an Affordable Care Act requirement that most health plans cover certain preventive services without cost sharing.

Over 230 bipartisan representatives urged House leaders to prevent $8 billion in cuts to Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payments scheduled to begin Oct. 1, calling AHA-supported legislation (H.R. 2665) “a reasonable and responsible path to take in order to avoid the disastrous consequences to our safety net hospitals if the Medicaid DSH cuts were to take effect.”

Advancing health equity must be of utmost importance for all of us working in hospitals and health systems.

Aisha Syeda, a senior program manager for AHA’s Strategic Initiatives, shares how Dell Children’s Medical Center, Hand to Hold and Northwest Community Healthcare support families affected by infant loss or a neonatal intensive care unit admission.

Two experts discuss the AHA’s recently released 2023 Costs of Caring Report, which documents the skyrocketing growth in expenses, especially the cost of labor.

Telehealth Access for America, an AHA-supported campaign to protect patient access to critical telehealth services, urged Congress to make permanent certain Medicare telehealth flexibilities granted during the COVID-19 public health emergency and extended through 2024 by the Consolidated Appropriations Act.

Yesterday marked the official end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. For more than three years, hospitals, health systems and front-line health care workers have worked tirelessly to care for patients, comfort families and protect communities.

In part one of a new AHA short film moderated by Leon D.

The Department of Health and Human Services May 11 amended its Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act declaration for COVID-19 to extend liability protections for certain COVID-19 countermeasure activities beyond the May 11 end of the public health emergency

The Food and Drug Administration May 11 finalized revised recommendations for assessing blood donor eligibility, which use the same risk-based questions for every donor regardless of sexual orientation, sex or gender.

Health sector organizations should immediately patch a vulnerability in Veeam software used to back up, replicate and restore data on virtual machines, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Centers (HC3) said in an alert May 10.

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, AHA’s People Matter, Words Matter campaign has released a new poster to support child and adolescent behavioral health.

Learn about tools and resources to help hospitals and health systems support workforce well-being.