News

U.S. health care providers may no longer order the monoclonal antibodies bamlanivimab and etesevimab until further notice due to rising prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 P.1 and B.1.351 variants, which are not susceptible to the combination therapy, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response announced.

Responding to a June 20 op-ed published in the Washington Post, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack said the alarmist headline misrepresented the facts.

A bipartisan group in the Senate reached a deal with President Biden on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure framework that forgoes tax increases as a funding source.

In Bellingham, Wash., the PeaceHealth clinic is using community health workers, or promotoras, to help educate farmworkers in rural communities about the importance of getting the COVID-19 vaccine. 

EmPATH — Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing — is a new approach designed to guide patients safely through a current mental health crisis while building coping skills that will guide them through future challenges, writes Lewis Zeidner, system director, clinical triage and transition services, at M Health Fairview.

In a recent Fox Business Network interview, John Riggi, AHA’s senior advisor for cybersecurity and risk offered solutions to help prevent cyberattacks against hospitals and health systems, including investment in new technology and educating the workforce.

The Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium has begun enrolling up to 1,000 pregnant and postpartum individuals who have or will receive COVID-19 vaccine in a study to assess vaccine safety, immune response and transfer of antibodies to their infants, the National Institutes of Health announced.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Health Care Program will carry forward up to $379.97 million in unused funds from prior years to increase available funding for funding year 2021 and beyond if needed, the agency announced.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on several AHA-supported bills to advance public health by focusing on social determinants of health and data collection.

EmPATH — or Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing — is designed to guide patients safely through a current crisis while building coping skills that will guide them through future challenges. Though it just opened in March, this unit is moving emergency mental health care in a new and exciting direction.

An estimated 16.8 million U.S. adults had undiagnosed COVID-19 by July 2020, representing 4.6% of U.S. adults and 4.8 undiagnosed infections for every diagnosed case, according to a National Institutes of Health study published by the journal Science Translational Medicine. NIH’s SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence Project used an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to identify SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in dried blood samples collected from a representative sample of U.S. adults.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Columbus-based OhioHealth applied its expansive resources to analyze over 500,000 PCR tests, create a dedicated supply chain team for personal protective equipment procurement, and redeploy administrative workers to the front lines, avoiding layoffs and even providing bonuses.

Columbus, Ohio-based Mount Carmel Health System goes beyond the walls of its hospital to serve its community and patients through programs such as Street Medicine, which provides free urgent medical care to underinsured or uninsured individuals.

The AHA joined the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other national health care and public health organizations in encouraging COVID-19 vaccination for everyone age 12 and older who is eligible.

AHA urged the Department of Health and Human Services to allow all health care providers to use their COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund payments until June 30, 2022, or the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, whichever is later.

The General Accountability Office released a report that found that in 2018, 70% of U.S. teaching hospitals were self-funding residency slots above the statutory limits set in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.

The AHA’s American Society for Health Care Risk Management invites hospitals and others to show their appreciation for health care risk management professionals during HRM Week, June 21-25

Over 80 million Americans were enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program at the end of January, a 13.9% increase since February 2020.

State-based health insurance marketplaces can apply through July 20 at 3 p.m. ET for a portion of $20 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding.

As the AHA reflects on Juneteenth, the June 19 federal holiday recognizing the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans, it also considers how we must strive for equity in health care and beyond, writes Joy Lewis, AHA’s senior vice president for health equity strategies.