News

The Department of Health and Human Services will launch a national advertising campaign and tour to encourage families to get the updated Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine booster to protect themselves against the omicron variants before winter and the holiday season.

The Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response recently awarded funding for 13 hospitals and health systems to serve as Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers for highly infectious diseases

The AHA’s American Organization for Nursing Leadership affiliate and the Emergency Nurses Association today updated their Guiding Principles on Mitigating Workplace Violence to incorporate best practices based on the latest research and a toolkit to help hospitals and health systems customize their workplace violence protection program to best protect their employees and patients. 

At an AHA virtual policy briefing today for congressional staff, hospital and health system leaders urged Congress to prioritize actions to address the rising costs of caring, workforce challenges and diminished Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, which have made 2022 the most difficult financial year for the hospital field since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

A shooter Saturday killed two employees at Methodist Dallas Medical Center in Texas.

The Health Resources and Services Administration Friday awarded $13 million through the Clinical Faculty and Preceptor Academies Program and Registered Nurse Training Program.  

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration last week awarded states and territories $59.4 million in grants for community mental health crisis response.

Insured and uninsured Americans children aged 5-11 can also receive the new bivalent Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 boosters at no cost as long as the federal government continues to purchase and distribute them, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced today.

The U.S. Supreme Court should affirm the government’s authority to dismiss a False Claims Act lawsuit after declining to intervene in the case, the AHA, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Health Care Association said in a friend-of-the-court brief filed today. 

As Congress begins to focus on its year-end agenda, AHA today urged lawmakers to prioritize certain actions to help hospitals and health systems address rising costs, workforce challenges and diminished Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.

Hospital and health system teams today not only are caring for one patient at a time but also improving the health of their communities.

The FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Department of Health and Human Services today alerted U.S. organizations to a cybercrime group targeting the health care sector with ransomware and data extortion operations. The group has attacked multiple organizations since June, deploying ransomware to encrypt servers responsible for health care services, exfiltrating personal identifiable information and patient health information, and threatening to release the information if a ransom is not paid.

In recognition of National Women’s Blood Pressure Awareness Week, Oct. 17-23, Shanna Cox, associate director for science at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, discusses the increase in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and how the CDC’s Hear Her campaign resources can help hospitals identify and prevent associated complications.

The FBI yesterday recommended U.S. organizations take certain actions to protect their networks against the Iranian cybergroup Emennet Pasargad, which has recently used hack-and-leak techniques and false personas to target organizations, including one in the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices yesterday recommended updates to the 2023 childhood and adult immunization schedules, which include incorporating additional information for approved or authorized COVID-19 vaccines.

Hospitals serving marginalized urban communities need additional federal support so they can meet their mission of advancing health for the patients and communities they serve, writes Ashley Thompson, AHA’s senior vice president of public policy, based on a new report by NORC at the University of Chicago.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, M.D., yesterday released a framework outlining recommended policies, processes and practices to support mental health and well-being in the workplace.

The health care field continues to be a top target for cybercriminals.

The FDA authorized, and the CDC recommended, the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine as a first booster dose for adults who would not otherwise receive one.

AHA received a $1.5 million grant from the CDC to support COVID-19 vaccine confidence efforts through September 2023, including working with the Children’s Hospital Association on pediatric vaccination.