News

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission today reviewed its upcoming research on payment for a defined episode of post-acute care, which augments its prior development of a common prospective payment system for home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities and long-term care hospitals mandated by Congress.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday posted a summary of validation survey results for hospitals in fiscal years 2014-2016, and survey reports for hospitals with a compliance deficiency in the past six months.

Only 29 percent of health plans in the individual market included out-of-network coverage in 2018, down from 58 percent in 2015.

Employment at the nation's hospitals rose by 0.23 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted 5,202,900 people.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently made several proposals that could reduce access to care in the community, particularly for vulnerable patients. We’ve urged CMS to withdraw these proposals for several reasons.

The AHA and Federation of American Hospitals today urged the National Labor Relations Board to consider hospital electronic communication systems as a virtual “patient care area,” and to reestablish a previous NLRB standard that would lawfully permit hospital employers to limit employees’ use of these systems.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has revised the way Medicare administrative contractors make local coverage determinations for medical technologies.

U.S. News and World Report will host a Twitter chat on building healthy communities at 1:30 p.m. ET Oct. 10.

The AHA and American College of Healthcare Executives will deliver a joint session on hospitals as change agents in their communities during the International Hospital Federation’s World Hospital Congress Oct. 10-12 in Brisbane, Australia.

The Senate today passed by a vote of 98-1 the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the final House and Senate

The average annual premium for employer-sponsored family health coverage rose 5 percent this year to $19,616, including employer and worker contributions, according to the latest annual survey of employer-sponsored health insurance by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The Department of Health and Human Services has extended to Oct. 12 the deadline to recommend health care leaders to participate in HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan’s Innovation and Investment Summit.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has released a report summarizing its Sept. 5-6 workshop on medical drug shortages during disasters and opportunities to better predict, prevent and respond to shortages.

The American Organization of Nurse Executives has chosen as its next president-elect Mary Ann Fuchs, vice president of patient care and system chief nurse executive at Duke University Health System in Durham, N.C., and associate dean of clinical affairs for the Duke University School of Nursing.

A National Academy of Medicine committee studying the causes of clinician burnout, consequences for clinicians and patients, and interventions to support clinician well-being and resilience yesterday held its first public meeting in Washington, D.C.

Anne Arundel Medical Center in Maryland reduced opioid prescribing over a 16-month period by implementing interventions to educate prescribers, patients and the public about opioid risks and safety and promote clinician accountability.

Open enrollment in 2019 health plans through HealthCare.gov and most state exchanges begins Nov. 1 and runs through Dec. 15.

Forty-eight senators Friday urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reconsider its proposal to expand certain site-neutral payment policies to grandfathered off-campus hospital provider-based departments in calendar year 2019.

The Food and Drug Administration today released a framework to help hospitals and other health care providers plan for and respond to cybersecurity incidents involving medical devices.

A total of 64 rural hospitals closed between 2013 and 2017, more than twice the number during the prior five-year period.