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The latest stories from AHA Today.
About 15% of adults smoked cigarettes in 2015, down from about 17% in 2014 and 21% in 2005, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette smoking rates were higher among men than women, Native Americans than other racial and ethnic groups, and those…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today issued its draft 2018 Letter to Issuers, which provides operational and technical guidance to insurers intending to sell qualified health plans through the federally-facilitated Health Insurance Marketplaces in 2018.
Territories, states and tribal organizations with active or local transmission of Zika virus can apply for a portion of $66.1 million in funding to prevent and treat health conditions related to the virus, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced yesterday. The only areas…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today released a framework for improving antibiotic prescribing in outpatient settings. Its four core elements are commitment; action for policy and practice; tracking and reporting; and education and expertise. “Outpatient clinicians and facility…
The AHA looks forward to working with the new administration and Congress, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack said today. “Millions of Americans have exercised one of our most fundamental rights – the right to vote and elect our leaders – and the result of Tuesday’s historic…
California voters yesterday approved a ballot initiative sponsored by the California Hospital Association to make permanent the state’s Medicaid hospital fee program and the limit on the amount the state can take for the general fund. Voters also approved CHA-supported initiatives to…
The AHA’s American Society for Healthcare Engineering encourages health care facility and energy managers to complete its energy and water survey by Nov. 18. The Environmental Protection Agency will use anonymous data from the survey to update its ENERGY STAR scoring models for hospitals and…
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology today released its annual report to Congress on health IT progress, as required by the HITECH Act of 2009. The report notes that 96% of hospitals and 78% of physician offices…
The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research has launched an early-stage clinical trial to test an inactivated Zika vaccine candidate in humans, the National Institutes of Health announced yesterday. It expects to complete the study by fall 2018. Four additional studies of the candidate vaccine…
Hospital leaders and others may listen to a replay of the AHA’s Nov. 3 webinar on the final rule implementing Medicare’s new physician payment system, mandated by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015.