News

The Food and Drug Administration last week alerted health care providers and laboratory personnel to a cybersecurity vulnerability affecting the Universal Copy Service software in certain Illumina medical devices used to sequence DNA for clinical diagnostic use or research.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It’s an opportunity to note the progress we’ve made addressing behavioral health issues and delivering quality care, and to assess and take action to tackle the significant work that remains.

Forty-nine cities and states with the highest HIV transmission rates yesterday received between $2 million and $17 million each in fiscal year 2023 grants from the Health Resources and Services Administration to diagnose, treat and prevent new HIV infections as part of a Department of Health and Human Services initiative to reduce new infections at least 90% by 2030.

Join AHA Community Health Improvement and hospitals and health systems throughout the country June 12-18 in recognizing the people and organizations that are improving individual and community health and well-being.

AHA this week joined 30 other organizations in voicing support for the Chronic Care Management Improvement Act, legislation that would remove the 20% cost-sharing requirement for Chronic Care Management services under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

By taking a holistic approach and addressing the social determinants of health, ProMedica is working to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.

We must stabilize hospitals’ finances to ensure access to patient care. We must strengthen the health care workforce.

AHA today launched an updated Opioid Stewardship Hub, featuring the latest tools and resources to help hospitals and health systems address the opioid epidemic.

AHA on May 8 will release “Rebuilding a New Minneapolis: From Tragedy to Transformation,” a short film in which six Minneapolis hospital leaders discuss how the summer of 2020 shaped the future of their work, and how that moment in time impacted their organization.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first fecal microbiota product taken orally to prevent recurrent C. difficile infection. 

In a study of adults hospitalized between February 2022 and February 2023, when the omicron variant predominated, monovalent mRNA vaccination was 76% effective at preventing COVID-19-associated invasive mechanical ventilation and death up to 6 months after the last dose and 56% effective at least one year after the last dose, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released two proposed rules focused on ensuring access to services for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program beneficiaries across fee-for-service and managed care delivery systems.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today announced changes to its enforcement process for the hospital price transparency rule. CMS said it will now automatically impose a civil monetary penalty if hospitals fail to submit a corrective action plan on time or fail to complete the CAP within 45 days.

A senior executive from Children’s Hospital Colorado shares how the pediatric health system managed an unprecedented surge in patients with COVID-19, RSV and flu.

Commenting April 25 on a proposed rule implementing statutory changes to how Medicaid calculates the hospital-specific limit for certain Disproportionate Share Hospitals, AHA said it remains concerned that the changes will lower the hospital-specific DSH limit at a time when hospitals can least afford it.

AHA on April 26 submitted a statement to the House Education and Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions for a hearing on ways to reduce health care costs.

Tax-exempt hospitals both meet and exceed any requirements and expectations that attach to the privilege of tax exemption, AHA General Counsel and Secretary Melinda Hatton

The AHA strongly opposes legislation that would lead to additional site-neutral payment cuts and threaten access to patient care, Ashley Thompson, AHA senior vice president of public policy analysis and development, told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health today during a hearing focused on a number of legislative proposals that would affect hospitals and other parts of the health care system.

AHA presented Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi with the Award of Honor.  

A new AHIP report makes baseless claims that hospitals drive up specialty drug costs when in fact insurance companies drive up profits by steering patients to their own specialty pharmacies, write AHA’s Mark Howell, director of policy and patient safety, and Bharath Krishnamurthy, director of health analytics and policy.