News

In response to frequently asked questions, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services encouraged health insurers to relax otherwise applicable utilization management processes, as permitted by state law, to ensure that staff at hospitals, clinics and pharmacies can focus their limited time and resources on care delivery, and patients can receive needed care without delay.

The Health Resources and Services Administration Federal Office of Rural Health Policy today awarded $161.5 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding to help rural hospitals and communities respond to the COVID-19 emergency.

Battelle is adding nine processing sites for decontaminating compatible N95 and equivalent respirators for reuse by health care personnel, bringing the total states served to 15 and Washington, D.C.

Due to the COVID-19 emergency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will give hospitals until July 1, 2021 to implement admission, discharge and transfer notification requirements once its final rule on interoperability and patient access is published in the May 1 Federal Register.

The Senate approved by voice vote the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act – a $484 billion COVID-19 relief package – which includes an additional $75 billion for hospitals, health systems and other health care providers

The AHA is running ads in Axios newsletters to highlight hospitals and health systems efforts in response to COVID-19.

he Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its FAQs on COVID-19 laboratory testing and reporting. Topics include accessing laboratory testing, data and reporting, serology testing and ordering supplies.

Clinicians who participate in a clinical trial for a drug or biological product to treat a patient with novel coronavirus may now earn credit in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced.

The Bipartisan Policy Center released a new report examining the immense challenges facing the U.S. rural health care system as highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hospitals’ already thin margins plunged into the red in March as non-emergency procedures and revenues fell and expenses for staff, supplies and building capacity rose to prepare for a surge in COVID-19 patients, according to a new report by health care consultancy Kaufman Hall.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized the first diagnostic test with a home collection option for COVID-19.

A panel of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health released COVID-19 treatment guidelines for health care providers, which will be updated as new data become available.

The FBI warned today of specific COVID-19-themed email phishing campaigns targeting U.S.-based medical providers.

The Food and Drug Administration said that it will temporarily forgo action against 503A compounding pharmacies that provide to hospitals certain compounded drugs without patient-specific prescriptions.

This year was already designated as the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife before our current pandemic re-emphasized nurses’ vital role in caring for patients, comforting families and protecting the health of the community.

Employment at the nation's hospitals rose by 0.004% in March to a seasonally adjusted 5,261,500 people, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. That's 200 more people than in February and 90,900 more than a year ago.

The Department of Health and Human Services created a page with resources for health care planning and infectious disease, among others.

AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack responded to a recent commentary in the Washington Post that suggested hospital consolidation has contributed to fewer beds being available to treat COVID-19 patients.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began publishing limited racial and ethnic data on coronavirus cases.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued updated guidance on providing essential non-COVID-19 care to patients without symptoms of COVID-19 in regions with low and stable incidence of the virus.