News

The AHA urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to revise and reissue recent proposed regulations streamlining prior authorization requirements within certain coverage programs; consider additional regulations to limit care delays; and conduct oversight and enforcement for plans who have demonstrated problematic prior authorization usage in the past.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) issued a monthly bulletin that consolidates a wide range of cyber security alerts from across government on the latest cybersecurity trends and threats, including guidance on hardening remote access virtual private networks. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated the list of underlying medical conditions that put adults of any age at higher risk for severe COVID-19 based on the latest scientific evidence.

Working in health care delivery can be stressful and tiring under normal circumstances. And the COVID-19 pandemic has exerted incredible pressures on the emotional and physical well-being of our health care professionals. 

The Department of Health and Human Services has renewed the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration for another 90 days effective Oct. 18.

This year’s AHA Dick Davidson NOVA Award honorees from CommonSpirit Health, Luminis Health, Memorial Health System, Providence, and Texas Health Resources will discuss their award-winning programs to address homelessness, an aging population, behavioral health and substance use, lagging community wellness and the COVID-19 outbreak during an AHA webinar Oct. 26 at 12 p.m. ET.

The National Institutes of Health awarded a total of $78 million in funding to develop and manufacture 12 new rapid diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2, with the goal of bringing to market as soon as this year new home and point-of-care tests that can detect multiple respiratory infections.

States and territories can apply through April 8, 2022, for a portion of $100 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to help repay educational loans for primary care clinicians in exchange for service in underserved communities, the Health Resources and Services Administration announced.

A coalition of hospital and physician organizations, including the AHA, urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to give Medicare accountable care organizations the option to use pre-pandemic spending benchmarks to set financial targets beginning in performance year 2022.

Abbott Molecular Inc. issued a recall for its Alinity m SARS-CoV-2 AMP Kits and Alinity m Resp-4-Plex AMP Kits, distributed between May 13, 2020, and Aug. 31, 2021, for their potential to give false positive results.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an operational planning guide for pediatric COVID-19 vaccination and preliminary information on the pediatric Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

Available data support the safety and effectiveness of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use authorization as a booster dose in individuals aged 18 and older at least two months after an initial single dose, the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 19-0.

Cybercrimes directed against hospitals and health systems have been on a massive upswing worldwide for several years, accelerating even more during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted unanimously to recommend an extra Moderna booster dose for certain individuals.

GE Healthcare Partners, in partnership with Oregon-based Apprise Health Insight, launched a first-of-its-kind tool for addressing hospital capacity and critical resource management.

Hospitals and health systems must move from “doing digital” to “being digital” to compete in a rapidly evolving environment, writes Cynthia Perazzo, executive vice president of insights and advisory, at AVIA.

The AHA, joined by the Federation of American Hospitals, Michigan Health & Hospital Association, Kentucky Hospital Association, Ohio Hospital Association and Tennessee Hospital Association urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review and rectify a 6th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that will vastly expand hospitals’ exposure to False Claims Act retaliation lawsuits, sometimes years after an employee has left their position.

The AHA released the latest edition of the COVID-19 Snapshot, underscoring the persisting challenges facing hospitals and health systems during the ongoing public health emergency.

The AHA continues to spotlight the important work of rural hospitals tasked with caring for the nearly 60 million Americans who live in rural communities.

The Food and Drug Administration and Magellan Diagnostics Inc. expanded the ongoing recall of LeadCare II, LeadCare Plus and LeadCare Ultra Blood Lead Tests distributed between Oct. 27, 2020, and Aug. 19, 2021.