News

Hospitals continue to experience the same challenges that made 2022 the worst financial year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, including higher labor expenses and lower patient volumes, according to the latest report on hospital finances from Kaufman Hall. Hospital operating margins fell from -0.7% in December 2022 to -1% in January 2023, following persistent negative margins throughout last year.

The Food and Drug Administration Friday authorized for emergency use the first over-the-counter test to detect both flu and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The Lucira COVID-19 & Flu Home Test provides results from self-collected nasal swab samples in about 30 minutes.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Friday proposed changing how it calculates the Medicaid fraction for Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospital payments.

The Drug Enforcement Administration Friday proposed limiting telehealth prescriptions for buprenorphine and other controlled substances after the COVID-19 public health emergency to a 30-day supply unless the prescriber or referring clinician have evaluated the patient in person. DEA will accept comments on the proposed rules for 30 days after their publication in the Federal Register.

On this episode, I talk with Jennifer Havens, CEO of UnityPoint Health – Grinnell Regional Medical Center, a 49-bed hospital serving several counties in Iowa.

Effective Feb. 27, certified independent dispute resolution entities will resume issuing payment determinations for payment disputes involving out-of-network services and items furnished before Oct. 25, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today advised clinicians to report extensively drug-resistant strains of Shigella infections to their state or local health department, and educate patients and communities at increased risk.

“There are three things America’s hospitals have in common right now: sicker patients, a smaller workforce and higher labor and supply costs,” writes AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack in an op-ed today in Real Clear Health.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee last week held a hearing aptly titled “Examining Health Care Workforce Shortages: Where Do We Go from Here?” Clearly, all of our efforts to inform policymakers and the public about the urgent need to address the workforce challenges have resonated on Capitol Hill, as the tone and focus of this hearing demonstrated.

AHA has elected Ascension CEO Joseph R. Impicciche to immediately fill a vacancy on its Board of Trustees effective through 2024.

AHA’s United Against the Flu campaign today released a new social media toolkit to help hospitals and health systems encourage their communities to get vaccinated against the flu and COVID-19, including getting an updated COVID-19 booster.

GE Healthcare expects supplies of its iohexol and iodixanol intraveneous contrast media products for computed tomography imaging to return to normal in the next few weeks.

AHA this week voiced support for bipartisan legislation (H.R.1110) introduced in the House that would require the Department of Health and Human Services, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, and Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission to study expanded telehealth use during the COVID-19 pandemic and recommend potential enhancements to telehealth access and quality. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday issued a proposed rule implementing changes to Medicaid’s hospital-specific Disproportionate Share Hospital cap calculations for state Medicaid programs under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.

The Russia-linked ransomware group Clop claims it used a vulnerability in the secure file transfer software GoAnywhere MFT to attack over 130 organizations this month in health care and other sectors, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) alerted the sector yesterday.

Developing innovative approaches and creative solutions to tackle the unprecedented challenges in health care calls for skilled, knowledgeable and innovative leaders. Empowering the next generation of health care leaders is the aim of the AHA’s Next Generation Leaders Fellowship.

The Department of Health and Human Services today hosted the first daylong HHS Black Health Summit in Washington, D.C., where department officials highlighted federal, state and local efforts to eliminate health disparities and HHS resources to help advance health equity.

Nonprofit hospitals and health systems and other eligible entities can apply until April 14 for up to $2.5 million from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to support evidence-based interventions to prevent, diagnose and treat substance use disorders in primary care; and until April 21 for up to $2.5 million to support evidence-based interventions to accelerate health equity in health care delivery systems, among other funding opportunities

What can be done to attract, recruit and train more talented young Black men to the practice of medicine?

The AHA today urged the Federal Trade Commission to withdraw its proposed rule that would ban contractual terms that prohibit workers from pursuing certain employment after their contract with an employer ends.