News

The Department of Health and Human Services yesterday renewed the COVID-19 public health emergency for 90 days, and told states to expect the PHE and certain flexibilities to end May 11

The United States and Republic of Korea today recommended health care organizations take certain actions to protect against North Korean-sponsored ransomware activity targeting the sector.

For three years, hospitals, health systems and health care workers have been on the front lines of the greatest public health crisis our nation has faced in a century.

The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology, in collaboration with AHA and other organizations, yesterday published updated best practices for hospitals to prevent healthcare-associated infections through hand hygiene based on the latest evidence.

In a new public service announcement, leaders of the AHA, American Medical Association and American Nurses Association encourage the public to get vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 when eligible to protect themselves, their families and communities from serious disease and death.

When the omicron BA.4/BA.5 variants were circulating, Americans who received an updated COVID-19 vaccine were 14 times less likely to die than those who received no vaccine and five times less likely to die than those who received the original monovalent vaccine, according a study released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Federal Emergency Management Agency today notified government partners and stakeholders that the incident period for public assistance funding for eligible COVID-19-related work and reimbursable costs will end with the COVID-19 national and public health emergencies on May 11.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and FBI released guidance to help organizations prevent and recover from a global ransomware campaign that has compromised over 3,800 VMware ESXi servers.

Hear how Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., developed a system allowing hospital staff members to protect patient safety in the event of a broad-based ransomware or malware attack.

The Food and Drug Administration Friday cleared for commercial distribution a test to diagnose multiple respiratory viral and bacterial infections in respiratory specimens from patients with suspected COVID-19 or other respiratory infections.

A new white paper from the Healthcare and Public Health Sector Coordinating Council (HSCC), a public-private partnership to mitigate risks to the sector, outlines nine cybersecurity concerns for artificial intelligence use in the clinical and enterprise environment and approaches to address them

In an op-ed yesterday in The Hill, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack explains why hospitals and health systems are working with government and other stakeholders this year to enact legislation and policies to ensure access to care and provide financial, regulatory and administrative relief; strengthen the health care workforce; and advance health care quality, equity and transformation.

A Texas judge yesterday held that the federal government’s revised independent dispute resolution process for determining payment for out-of-network services under the No Surprises Act skews the arbitration results in commercial insurers’ favor in violation of the compromise Congress reached in the Act.  

As HHS prepares to end the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11, AHA today recommended the agency take immediate actions to help ensure care remains available to patients when and where they need it; support the health care workforce as they continue to shoulder a disproportionate amount of strain; and remove unnecessary administrative and regulatory burdens that prevent providers from modernizing care delivery while adding cost and friction in the health care system.

 AHA’s recently released 2022 National Health Care Governance Survey Report shows that today’s hospital and health system boards are working hard to keep pace with transformation in health care.

The Committee on Clinical Leadership serves as a clinical resource on policy issues and guides the ongoing work of the AHA Physician Alliance. 

Adults receiving dialysis treatment for end-stage kidney disease were 100 times more likely to have a Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection than adults not on dialysis during 2017-2020, with the risk 40% higher for Hispanic patients than white patients, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Food and Drug Administration last week removed the requirement for a positive COVID-19 test result to prescribe Paxlovid to certain adult and pediatric patients and Lagevrio to certain adults at risk of progressing to severe COVID-19.

Nearly 1,200 health care leaders from rural hospitals, health systems and health clinics, as well as rural associations and community health organizations, will convene Feb. 19–22 in San Antonio for the AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference.

AHA and its Institute for Diversity and Health Equity are providing social media assets that hospitals and health systems can use throughout February to highlight Black contributions to health care.