News

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.  

The latest from the 2023 Rural Health Care Leadership Conference.

The Food and Drug Administration last week reported on its fiscal year 2022 activities to support medical countermeasures, as required by the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2013.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Friday released a bulletin reiterating certain federal requirements with respect to health care-related taxes.

HIPAA-covered entities reported 609 breaches of unsecured protected health information in calendar year 2021, 7% fewer than in 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights reported in its latest annual report on the issue.