News

At the urging of the AHA, the State Department said that because of the emergence of the COVID-19 delta variant and continued demand for health care professionals, U.S. embassies and consulates were instructed that they may prioritize “as emergencies on a case-by-case basis the immigrant visa cases of certain health care professionals who will work at a facility engaged in pandemic response.”

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults with disabilities surveyed during February and March reported adverse mental health symptoms or substance use early this year, compared with about one-third of adults without disabilities, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alerted health care providers and the public to reports of severe illness associated with using products containing ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19.

The Department of Health and Human Services, in advance of the next ACA open enrollment period, announced a major expansion of the number of federally funded navigator organizations.

Commenting on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ home health prospective payment system proposed rule for calendar year 2022, AHA expressed support for CMS’ decision to forego action in CY 2022 on a behavioral adjustment to the Patient Driven Grouping Model case-mix system, while asking the agency to continue doing so until the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Cardinal Health recently recalled about 267 million prefilled saline syringes due to the potential for the plunger to reintroduce air back into the syringe and cause serious adverse outcomes.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology will work with technology leaders to develop a framework to improve security in the technology supply chain, the White House announced at a meeting with technology leaders. Microsoft, Google, IBM, Travelers and the cyber insurance provider Coalition will participate in the initiative.

A new video toolkit from AHA Team Training and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Project Firstline can help health care teams prevent and control infections, improve patient safety and bolster resiliency, writes Christopher Hund, senior director, programming and implementation, at the AHA Center for Health Innovation.

In this AHA Advancing Health podcast, Marie Cleary-Fishman, vice president of clinical quality for the AHA Center for Health Innovation, and Holly Geyer, M.D., internal medicine practitioner at the Mayo Clinic, discuss opioid stewardship and AHA-developed resources that offer hospitals and health systems guidance and information on partnering with patients, clinicians and communities to address the opioid epidemic.

Eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals that did not qualify as meaningful users of certified electronic health record technology for the 2020 Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program may apply for a hardship exception to avoid the associated payment penalty.

The Health Resources and Services Administration has extended to Sept. 20 the deadline for health care providers, associations and federally qualified health centers to apply for $29 million to promote resilience, mental health and wellness in the health care workforce.

The AHA released a new issue of the COVID-19 Snapshot, underscoring the persisting challenges facing hospitals and health systems during the ongoing public health emergency.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into focus more than ever before the need for teamwork and communication. To help support health care teams and get everyone on the same page, TeamSTEPPS is a practical, evidence-based set of communications tools developed over decades. It’s been implemented successfully across hospitals and health systems and is now taking on an even greater role with infection prevention and control teams as COVID-19 continues to spread.

Health care providers should stop using N95 respirators made by Shanghai Dasheng Health Products Manufacturing Co. Ltd., which are no longer authorized for emergency use, the Food and Drug Administration announced.

The FBI released an alert on Hive ransomware, which uses mechanisms such as phishing emails with malicious attachments and Remote Desktop Protocol to access and move through victim networks, exfiltrate data and encrypt files.

Accountable care organizations in the Medicare Shared Savings Program generated $1.9 billion in total net savings to Medicare in 2020, the fourth straight year of savings, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced.

AHA and 11 other organizations representing hospitals and physicians urged House and Senate committee leaders to include in the budget reconciliation bill the Value in Health Care Act (H.R. 4587), legislation to strengthen Medicare’s value-based payment models and accountable care organizations. 

Moderna announced the completion of its biologic license application to the Food and Drug Administration for its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. The application comes with a request for priority review.

The AHA released new public service announcements and related digital content encouraging vaccination against COVID-19 by still-unvaccinated health care workers and members of the public.

The House approved by a vote of 220-212 a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, which included reconciliation instructions to provide the majority party with the means to pass a comprehensive reconciliation package with just 51 votes in the Senate, rather than the usual 60-vote hurdle.