News

The Department of Health and Human Services announced a standard clinical definition for opioid withdrawal in infants. Recently published in the Journal of Pediatrics, the definition includes prenatal exposure and at least two of the most common clinical signs of withdrawal (excessive crying, fragmented sleep, tremors, increased muscle tone or gastrointestinal dysfunction). 

On Feb. 15, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute will launch an AHA-informed initiative that will provide funding to help health care delivery systems and provider-affiliated health plans implement practices that improve patient outcomes, based on findings from PCORI-funded research.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Hear Her campaign has released a new website and resources to help health professionals communicate with pregnant and postpartum patients about their concerns and respond to urgent maternal warning signs. 

Once the COVID-19 omicron variant became prominent through Jan. 8, unvaccinated adults in Los Angeles County had a 3.6 times higher SARS-CoV-2 infection rate and 23 times higher hospitalization rate than adults who had received a COVID-19 vaccine booster, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

As part of AHA’s Joining Hands for Greater Impact series, Julia Resnick, AHA director of strategic initiatives, speaks with Lydia Isaac, vice president for health equity and policy at the National Urban League, about vaccine hesitancy among parents and the importance of clear communication and outreach to build vaccine confidence in the Black community.

The AHA joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Medical Association in urging the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a district court decision that refused to allow a case involving the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act of 2005 to proceed in federal court and sent it back to state court for further proceedings.    

Hundreds of hospital and health system leaders today participated in an AHA virtual advocacy briefing to hear the latest from Capitol Hill and urge Congress to support hospitals and caregivers as part of a must-pass legislative package this month.

A recent Congressional Budget Office report comparing the prices commercial health insurers and fee-for-service Medicare pay for hospital and physician services lacks important context and raises more questions than it answers, writes Benjamin Finder, director of policy research and analysis at the AHA. 

Sky Lakes Medical Center in Klamath Falls, Ore., will receive the AHA’s 2021 Rural Hospital Leadership Award at the Rural Health Care Leadership Conference next week in Phoenix, AHA announced.

The Food and Drug Administration issued an update on the Class 1 recall of certain Philips Respironics ventilators.

The Government Accountability Office is surveying health care entities and business associates covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act through 4 p.m. ET Friday to learn more about their experiences complying with the Department of Health and Human Services’ data breach reporting requirements and HHS efforts to improve the data breach reporting process.

Hospitals experiencing an extraordinary circumstance beyond their control affecting their ability to submit data or their performance may continue to request an exception to reporting required quality data, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reminded hospitals in a notice

The Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for individuals age 18 and older.

This year, I look forward to continuing AHA’s leadership dialogues on trending topics with health care, business and community leaders from around the country.

On this Advancing Health podcast, Michelle Davis, assistant vice president of medical services at Unity Health, in Searcy, Ark., discusses how a shared governance model promotes partnerships and collaboration between nurses and other health care professionals, and gives bedside caregivers a voice and opportunity to help ensure patient-centric care.

The AHA released a new fact sheet detailing a number of waivers issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services during the COVID-19 public health emergency that the association believes should be extended or made permanent.

The AHA voiced support for many of the policies proposed in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2023, including clarifications to the Medical Loss Ratio calculations, reestablishment of standardized health plan option requirements, changes to the essential health benefit nondiscrimination policy, and new requirements and standards of conduct for agents, brokers and web-brokers. 

Congress returns to Washington, D.C., next week and its top focus will be passing a spending package that keeps the government funded past Feb. 18. 

As hospitals and health systems continue to treat COVID-19 patients and manage the impacts of the pandemic on their workforce and broader organizations, they also can push forward strategic imperatives that will ensure a health care delivery system prepared to meet future challenges, writes Lindsey Dunn Burgstahler, vice president, programming and intelligence, for the AHA Center for Health innovation.

A record 14.5 million people selected or were automatically re-enrolled in a health plan through the federally facilitated or state-based marketplaces during 2022 open enrollment, including about 3 million new consumers, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced.