News

Pandemic fatigue is real for many in our communities, but with flu season starting, now is not the time to let up. This year’s flu season could be extremely challenging for our communities and our hospital teams. Fortunately, we have a vaccine to protect almost everyone ages 6 months and older.

Employment at hospitals and health systems fell by more than 8,000 jobs in September, as U.S. jobs overall increased by 194,000, according to preliminary data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Health care jobs overall fell by 17,500 and remain at just under 16 million (seasonally adjusted).

The Department of Health and Human Services released a Spanish version of its QuestionBuilder app, a mobile app developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to help patients prepare for in-person and telehealth appointments.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its star ratings for 2022 Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans, which are available through the Medicare plan finder tool and CMS website.

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response issued details on several key changes related to the REGEN-COV COVID-19 monoclonal antibody therapy.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should withdraw a proposed Medicare demonstration that would implement new program integrity audits for all inpatient rehabilitation facilities in four states, AHA told the agency again.

Hospitals and health systems put the health and welfare of their patients first. For some of the nation’s largest commercial health insurers, unfortunately, that is not always the case.

In the newest Leadership Rounds, AHA Board Chair Rod Hochman, M.D., and Fritz Francois, M.D., chief medical officer at New York University Langone Health, discuss emergency preparedness, caregiver resiliency and health equity — all through the lens of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

Health care providers used Z codes to capture standardized data on social determinants of health for 525,987 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries in 2019, according to a new report by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response awarded Emory University in Atlanta up to $3 million to lead a fourth demonstration site for the Regional Disaster Health Response System, launched in 2018 to better coordinate and integrate disaster medical response capabilities in a region.

DeRoyal Industries recently recalled more than 2,800 procedure packs distributed in the U.S. that could expose patients to harmful levels of aluminum.

Hospitals and health systems are paying $24 billion more per year for clinical labor than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis released by Premier.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has modified its COVID-19 blanket waiver for Medicare-dependent hospitals (MDHs) to include hospitals that became newly classified as MDHs during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

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

Pfizer announced that it has formally requested that the Food and Drug Administration amend its COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorization to allow vaccinations of children between the ages of 5 and 11.

The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded cities, counties, states and community organizations $2.21 billion in fiscal year 2021 grants to support medical and support services, including medications, for people with low income who have HIV. 

The frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms among U.S. adults increased after August 2020 and peaked during December 2020 and January 2021, mirroring the national weekly number of new COVID-19 cases, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health care providers registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration must use the new single-sheet form to order schedule I and II controlled substances, effective Oct. 30, the agency announced.

The rise in COVID-19 cases due to the delta variant “continues to exacerbate the shortage of hospital workers, hampering recruitment and retention, driving up wages and weighing on hospitals' profitability,” according to a report released by Moody’s Investors Service. 

As recommended by the AHA, the Food and Drug Administration proposed revising 2016 draft guidance to allow hospital and health system pharmacies that are not outsourcing facilities to distribute compounded drug products to any health care facility in the same system without first receiving a valid prescription or order for an individual patient. Previously the guidance limited this allowance to facilities within a one-mile radius.