News

The numbers of Americans aware of their high blood pressure conditions dropped over a four-year period, from 85% in 2013-2014 to 77% in 2017-2018, according to a National Institutes for Health’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute study.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced more than $79 million in awards for construction and other capital support for 165 Health Resources and Services Administration-funded health centers impacted by Hurricanes Florence and Michael, Typhoon Mangkut, and Super Typhoon Yutu, wildfires and earthquakes occurring in calendar year 2018, and tornadoes and floods occurring in calendar year 2019.

Months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the health care supply chain remains strained due to the high demand for personal protective equipment.

Lesley Ogden, M.D., CEO of Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital and Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Oregon, shares her hospitals’ experience during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

As part of the continued work of the 100 Million Mask Challenge, AHA and the Association for Health Care Resource and Materials Management have vetted a new partnership in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and resulting shortage of personal protective equipment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Sept. 17 at 2 p.m. ET will host a Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity webinar on using antivirals to treat influenza and whether the U.S. could see fewer cases, as indicated by data from the Southern Hemisphere’s 2020 flu season.

An updated set of Current Procedural Terminology codes includes two for reporting medical services necessitated during the COVID-19 pandemic public health response.

The AHA again expressed concern to the Department of Health and Human Services about recent actions taken by several major drug manufacturers to limit the distribution of certain 340B drugs to hospitals. 

The Louisiana Hospital Association Research and Education Foundation has established a fund to help hospital employees who experienced significant property loss or personal hardship as a result of Hurricane Laura.

The National Institutes of Health announced as part of its Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative $129.3 million in contracts to nine companies for technologies that include portable point-of-care tests for immediate results and high-throughput laboratories that can return results within 24 hours.

The Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug for facilitating tracheal intubation and to provide skeletal muscle relaxation during surgery or mechanical ventilation.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued new surveyor guidance for COVID-19 laboratory test result reporting for Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-certified laboratories.

The Federal Reserve Sept. 4 said that its Main Street Lending Program is now fully operational and accepting submissions of eligible loans to nonprofit organizations.

Senate Republican leaders released a roughly $500 billion COVID-19 relief package that would provide additional assistance for priorities, including small businesses, enhanced unemployment insurance, child care, COVID-19 testing and schools.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the preliminary calendar 2019 unaudited occupational mix survey data, which will be used in area wage index calculations beginning in fiscal year 2022.

The AHA urged the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to adopt a unified set of guidelines to account for the variables associated with all issues of the eventual allocation of COVID-19 vaccine allocation.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a final rule for the long-term care hospital prospective payment system for fiscal year 2021. Under the rule, net payments for LTCHs will decrease by 1.1% (-$40 million) relative to FY 2020 payments.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a final rule that will increase Medicare inpatient prospective payment system rates by a net 2.9% in fiscal year 2021, compared to FY 2020, for hospitals that are meaningful users of electronic health records and submit quality measure data.

The AHA, joined by the Association of American Medical Colleges and several member hospitals, asked the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to rehear a July 17 decision by a three-judge panel that upheld the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services to reduce payments for hospital outpatient services furnished in off-campus provider-based departments grandfathered under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.