News

The AHA urged the Health Resources and Services Administration to better support hospitals and health systems in rural communities through refinements to the Health Professional Shortage Area scoring approach.

The AHA responded to a RAND Corporation study that found certain prices paid to hospitals by private health plans are high relative to Medicare. The study examined hospital prices for a limited number of employers and health plans from 2016 to 2018.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized a new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation payment model aimed at transforming kidney care to ensure patients with chronic kidney disease have access to high quality, coordinated care.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a final rule setting forth a five-year bundled payment model for radiation oncology, which will be mandatory in certain areas of the country beginning Jan. 1.

Proactive COVID-19 testing of all long-term care staff and residents, who are usually at higher risk of contracting the virus, may help prevent potential outbreaks, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.

The Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug application for propofol injectable emulsion, an intravenous general anesthetic and sedation drug in short supply.

In a sample of 598 hospitalized pregnant women with COVID-19, 55% had no symptoms on admission, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its testing guidance for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will withdraw its Medicaid fiscal accountability proposed rule from its regulatory agenda.

Government Accountability Office agents made 31 covert phone calls to selected sales representatives in five states between November 2019 and January 2020, posing as individuals needing to purchase health insurance to cover pre-existing conditions to see whether the representatives engaged in deceptive practices.

An estimated 29.6 million (9.2%) U.S. residents lacked health coverage when surveyed in 2019, up from 28.6 million (8.9%) in 2018, according to American Community Survey data reported by the Census Bureau.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released evidence-based recommendations to prevent and control Staphylococcus aureus in neonatal intensive care units, including strains resistant (MRSA) or sensitive (MSSA) to the antibiotic methicillin.

The Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency and waived certain Medicare, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program requirements in Oregon due to wildfires.

Each year roughly 400 physicians die by suicide in the U.S. Hundreds more report harboring serious thoughts of suicide.

In a new AHA blog, Aaron Wesolowski, AHA’s vice president of policy research, analytics and strategy, sets the record straight about false narratives portraying hospitals and health systems as uniquely responsible for increased health care prices, and using these narratives in attempts to deny hospitals and health systems the financial relief they desperately need.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response recently posted new and updated COVID-19 resources at its Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange.

The Food and Drug Administration approved dexmedetomidine hydrochloride in 0.9% sodium chloride injection for the sedation of initially intubated and mechanically ventilated patients in an intensive-care setting and of non-intubated patients prior to and/or during surgical and other procedures.

The National Institutes of Health awarded $12 million to non-profit research institution RTI International for outreach and engagement efforts in ethnic and racial minority communities that have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study suggests that social distancing and other measures to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2 could help reduce the impact of flu this fall and winter in the United States if widely practiced.

The Food and Drug Administration released comparative performance data for 55 COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tests.