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The latest stories from AHA Today.

The House of Representatives last night approved seven AHA-supported bills as part of its legislative package to address the opioid epidemic. H.R. 4641 would establish an interagency task force to review, modify and update best practices for pain management and pain medication prescribing. The…
The AHA supports the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ efforts to explore the feasibility of global budget payment programs in geographically defined communities, the association told the agency today, but called it “a challenging undertaking” and urged the agency…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has temporarily paused two-midnight patient status reviews to improve standardization across the program, the agency last week told the Quality Improvement Organizations conducting the reviews. CMS plans to work with the QIOs during the pause to…
In an open letter on the opioid epidemic published yesterday in the Huffington Post Blog, American Medical Association CEO Steven Stack, M.D., called on American physicians to avoid initiating opioids for new patients with chronic non-cancer pain unless the benefits are expected to outweigh…
An article yesterday in the New York Times highlights the yet-to-be-fulfilled promises made by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International to the U.S. Congress, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack writes in an AHASTAT blog post today.
The focus of this year’s National Nurses Week, which concludes today, is “Culture of Safety: It Starts With You.” In an AHASTAT blog post today, Pamela Thompson, CEO of the American Organization of Nurse Executives, notes, “Patient safety is imbedded in all of AONE’s competencies for nursing…
The AHA May 11 submitted to the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee several overarching recommendations for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Models (APM) that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will implement in 2019 under the Medicare…
The AHA today submitted to the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee several overarching recommendations for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System and Alternative Payment Models that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will implement in 2019 under the Medicare Access and CHIP…
As legislation to address the opioid crisis moved to the floor, AHA and others yesterday urged House leaders to align privacy laws governing substance use disorder patient records with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act rules that allow the use and disclosure of patient information…
The Coalition to Protect a Democratic Workplace, whose members include the AHA, yesterday voiced support for a joint resolution (H.J. Res. 87) to nullify the Department of Labor’s final “persuader” rule and asked Congress to quickly pass it. The coalition said the “unfair…