News

Starting by July 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will reprocess calendar year 2019 claims for hospital outpatient clinic visit services provided in off-campus provider-based departments excepted under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 to pay them at 70% of the outpatient prospective payment system rate, the same rate as non-excepted departments, the agency announced.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommended that Congress provide a 2% market-basket update for the hospital inpatient and outpatient prospective payment systems in fiscal year 2022.

AHA, through the 100 Million Mask Challenge, continues to work with novel manufacturers and suppliers to support hospitals’ and health systems’ PPE needs.

The hospital-at-home model continues to emerge as a promising approach to improve value for some patients, enabling the receipt of acute-level care in their homes.

Even as hospitals and health systems continue to address COVID-19 and its many challenges, they are looking for lessons learned and opportunities for the future.

The AHA urged President-elect Biden to provide strong federal leadership on the COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration process, and it pledged to work with the incoming administration in expediting the administration of vaccines throughout the nation.

Even as we continue to address COVD-19 challenges, let’s consider the experiences of the past year, looking for lessons learned and opportunities for the future. Here are four major areas that changed during the pandemic and are likely to keep transforming health care in the year ahead.

NewYork-Presbyterian routinely screens patients for social needs during outpatient and emergency department visits at six of the system’s New York City locations to identify patients for whom prevention and early intervention might mitigate social needs, resulting in fewer ED visits and avoidable readmissions.

Pennsylvania has dropped its legal challenge to the proposed merger of Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health and Einstein Healthcare Network.

Nearly 8.3 million people selected a 2021 health plan through HealthCare.gov during open enrollment, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said in an update.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may expand the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model nationwide through rulemaking as soon as next year, the agency announced.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology released for comment proposed changes to the United States Core Data for Interoperability, a standard set of data classes and elements for national health information exchange.

AHA is partnering with the Hospital at Home Users Group and American Academy of Home Care Medicine to present a webinar series for hospitals and health systems interested in implementing a hospital care-at-home model.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized its proposal to codify how it defines “reasonable and necessary” coverage for items and services furnished under Medicare Parts A and B.

The AHA Jan. 26 at 11 a.m. ET is hosting a Q&A event covering what front-line health care workers need to know about infection prevention and the environment of care.

The Department of Health and Human Services updated its guidance to hospitals on the reporting of COVID-19-related data.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced it is investing through the Health Resources and Services Administration $8 million to address gaps in rural telehealth.

he Food and Drug Administration released for comment its first plan for advancing oversight of medical software based on artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Robert Trestman, M.D., chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Carillion Clinic in Roanoke, Va., will chair AHA’s Behavioral Health Services Committee in 2021. Arpan Waghray, M.D., executive medical director of behavioral medicine at Swedish Health Services and chief medical officer for WellBeing Trust in Sammanish, Wash., will serve as chair-elect.

The AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Virtual Conference and Engagement Experience — one of AHA's flagship events — will be held Feb. 17-18.