News

Today, we continue to grapple not only with the COVID-19 pandemic, but also a dangerously polarized election, ongoing civil unrest in the face of untenable systemic racism … and now, 94 major wildfires that are devastating our West Coast neighbors, families and friends, as well as recent hurricanes that have brought new challenges to our colleagues in the South.

On this AHA podcast, Hyagriv Simhan, M.D., division chief of maternal fetal medicine, and Beth Quinn, program director of women’s services, at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, discuss innovative strategies the hospital is using to engage women and families through technology.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation posted a series of papers explaining the financial methodology for the Direct Contracting Model’s global and professional options, set to begin next April.

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.