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The latest stories from AHA Today.
Mortality rates, hospitalization rates and inpatient spending per beneficiary declined markedly for Medicare patients aged 65 and older between 1999 and 2013, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The annual death rate from all causes declined to 4.5% from 5.3…
The U.S. Senate Monday passed by unanimous consent legislation that would require hospitals to provide Medicare beneficiaries with written notification and a related oral explanation at discharge or within 36 hours, whichever is sooner, if they receive more than 24 hours of outpatient observation…
The House Energy and Commerce Committee today approved by voice vote the AHA-supported Protecting Our Infants Act (H.R. 1462). The bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Rep.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services this week released guidance related to its recent announcement that Medicare audit contractors will not deny certain Part B physician fee schedule claims based solely on the specificity of the ICD-10 code for 12 months after ICD-10 implementation.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force yesterday recommended that all adults be screened for depression in a primary care setting “with adequate systems in place to ensure accurate diagnosis, effective treatment and appropriate follow up.” The task force will accept comments on the…
The AHA encourages all hospitals to submit data to the quarterly RACTrac survey by Friday. The free web-based survey helps AHA gauge the impact of Medicare's Recovery Audit Contractor program on hospitals and advocate for needed changes. For more information on the RACTrac initiative, including a…
About 12.8 million people enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program between Oct. 1, 2013 and May 31, 2015, increasing total enrollment in the programs by 22% since the start of the first open enrollment period for the Health Insurance Marketplace, according to a report…
Hospital leaders July 28 urged the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee to eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens and support federal policies critical to maintaining access to care in rural communities.
The Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) received the 2015 Dick Davidson Quality Milestone Award for Allied Association Leadership for its work to improve health care quality.
Hospitals need a predictable partner in the federal government – one that won’t cut Medicare funding for hospital services to pay for other programs, AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack said July 28 at the National Journal’s Washington, D.C. forum on Medicare’s future.