News

Raymond Waller, director/administrator at Ascension Brighton (Mich.) Center for Recovery, will chair the AHA's Behavioral Health Council in 2020, and Robert Trestman, M.D., chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Va., will serve as chair-elect.

World Health Organization officials met in Geneva, Switzerland to discuss the coronavirus – originally found in Wuhan, China – which has killed 17 people.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized a decision to cover acupuncture for Medicare patients with chronic low back pain.

More than 15% of adults in every U.S. state and territory are physically inactive, ranging from 17.3% in Colorado to 47.7% in Puerto Rico, according to state maps released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Patrice Weiss, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer for Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Va., will chair the AHA’s Committee on Clinical Leadership in 2020.

Maryjane Wurth, AHA executive vice president and chief operating officer, shares strategies and insights gleaned from last week’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.

The CDC confirmed that a Washington state man was diagnosed Monday with coronavirus after returning from the Wuhan, China, region.

The Supreme Court said it will not expedite its decision whether to review a Texas appeals court decision that held the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate unconstitutional.

CMS published a request in the Federal Register for information on the coordination of care from out-of-state providers for Medicaid-eligible children.

The Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansions have led to historic reductions in racial disparities in access to health care since 2013, but progress has stalled since 2016, according to a study released by the Commonwealth Fund.

CMS rejected a request for a Section 1115 waiver to expand Medicaid coverage for air ambulance transportation to all Wyoming residents.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommended that Congress provide a 2% market-basket update for the hospital inpatient and outpatient prospective payment systems in 2021.

In response to an outbreak in China caused by a new coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Homeland Security announced screenings to detect ill travelers going through San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles airports.

The Department of Health and Human Services released for public comment a draft federal strategic plan for health information technology over the next five years, outlining federal goals and objectives to ensure that individuals have access to their electronic health information to manage their health and shop for care.

The AHA’s Institute for Diversity and Health Equity is accepting nominations through Feb. 25 for its 2020 Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award, which recognizes hospitals and health systems that have achieved a high level of success in advancing diversity, inclusion and equity.

“Human trafficking exists all around us.” That’s a quote from Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar during his visit to Atlanta this week to meet with human trafficking victims.

Thirty-three state hospital associations filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the Supreme Court to review this term an appeals court decision that held the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate unconstitutional.

The Department of Health and Human Services issued a proposed rule intended to clarify the rights and obligations of faith-based organizations participating in HHS programs, and HHS guidance for financial assistance with regard to faith-based organizations.

Richard Evnen, vice chair of Bryan Health, Lincoln, Neb., will chair the AHA's Committee on Governance in 2020, and Carolyn Scanlan, a trustee at Penn Medicine Lancaster (Pa.) General Health, will serve as chair-elect.

Cardinal Health customers may contact their sales representative to obtain lot numbers for surgical gowns and procedure packs affected by a quality issue at a contract manufacturing facility. The issue seems to affect about 25%-30% of the company’s AAMI Level 3 surgical gowns.