News

After growing for 20 years, the number of students in entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs fell 1.4% last year, according to data released this week by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

After the COVID-19 public health emergency ends on May 11, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will use COVID-19-associated hospital admission levels as the primary indicator to guide community and personal decisions related to risk and prevention behaviors.

The AHA, joined by the Federation of American Hospitals, Catholic Health Association of the United States, America’s Essential Hospitals, and Association of American Medical Colleges, yesterday urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to keep in place pending appeal an Affordable Care Act requirement that most health plans cover certain preventive services without cost sharing

This year’s observance of National Hospital Week, May 7-13, and National Nurses Week, May 6-12, are opportunities to thank our dedicated caregivers and recognize the tremendous job they have done taking care of our country through one of the most trying episodes in our history.

AHA on May 4 voiced support for bipartisan legislation in the House and Senate that would authorize through fiscal year 2025 a federal program that provides grants to public graduate medical education programs for physicians, with a focus on states with the most severe primary care provider shortages.

Summertime is right around the corner and AHA’s new social media toolkit promotes COVID-19 vaccination and boosters as a means for keeping kids active and healthy when school’s out.

“As we shift toward a post-pandemic world, let’s not lose sight of all that we’ve learned about caring for patients during this difficult time, when demand for mental health services has risen to record levels,” writes Manish Sapra, M.D., executive director of behavioral health services at Northwell Health and a member of the AHA’s Committee on Behavioral Health, during Mental Health Awareness Month.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in partnership with the AHA, has released a series of four short videos to help promote hand hygiene. The videos aim to engage and educate all personnel in effective hand hygiene, foster accountability, and advance continuous quality improvement.

The Kaiser Family Foundation provides a tool to track changes in state Medicaid enrollment during redeterminations. Stay updated on the latest Medicaid enrollment data.

AHA on May 4 voiced support for the Bipartisan Solution to Cyclical Violence Act, legislation that would create a federal grant program for hospitals to initiate or expand violence prevention programs linked to trauma centers and examine their effect on re-incarceration and readmission rates.

The Oklahoma Hospital Association recently named as its new president effective June 1 Rich Rasmussen, who most recently served as president and CEO of the Montana Hospital Association. Rasmussen replaces Patti Davis, who will retire in June after four decades in the hospital field.

As more people turn to their local hospital ED for behavioral health and addiction services, an executive with M Health Fairview in Minnesota describes how the health system launched a special emergency unit to deliver behavioral health care in a quick and calming environment.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration invites community-based organizations to apply through June 8 to participate in its Behavioral Health Equity Challenge, which will award 10 organizations up to $50,000 each for their innovative strategies to help underserved racial and ethnic communities access behavioral health services.

Hospital and health system margins improved slightly in March, but continue to sit at “razor-thin, near-zero levels,” putting hospitals in a vulnerable position should a recession or a new public health emergency materialize, according to the latest report on hospital finances by Kaufman Hall.

The Food and Drug Administration on May 3 approved the first U.S. vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, Arexvy by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, for use in individuals aged 60 and older.

The Senate Finance Committee today held a hearing on removing barriers to mental health care, with a focus on improving provider directory accuracy.

After reviewing a record 38,000 comments on proposed rules limiting telehealth prescriptions for buprenorphine and other controlled substances after the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Health and Human Services “have decided to extend the current flexibilities while we work to find a way forward to give Americans that access with appropriate safeguards,” the DEA announced May 3.

ProMedica’s approach to integrating social determinants of health “is designed to offer a helping hand, not a prescribed intervention,” writes the health system’s director of community impact in Michigan.

Pregnant people with opioid use disorder are more likely to receive buprenorphine (a recommended treatment) if they are older, white and have public insurance.

AHA May 1 released a customizable video and other social media resources to help hospitals and health systems celebrate National Hospital Week.