News

During a month-long ransomware attack on four hospitals in 2021, two neighboring hospital emergency departments experienced increased patient volumes, wait times and stroke patients, among other impacts, according to a study reported this month in JAMA Network Open.

After three years of caring on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, health care providers are confronting a landscape deeply altered by its effects, including the emergence of behavioral health care as an even greater challenge.

The final day of the 2023 Accelerating Health Equity Conference featured Dr. Brian Smedley, equity scholar at the Urban Institute, as the closing plenary speaker.

“As a practicing geriatric psychiatrist for more than 15 years, I’ve seen firsthand the mental and physical toll that anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions have taken on older adults, especially when left untreated for years,” writes Arpan Waghray, M.D., CEO of Providence’s Well Being Trust and past chair of AHA’s Committee on Behavioral Health.

States, territories and tribes can apply for a portion of $200 million in new funding to build local capacity for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and related services, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced.

As summer Pride parades and other large gatherings approach, Americans at high risk for mpox (monkeypox) exposure should ensure they are fully vaccinated with the JYNNEOS vaccine as recommended, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised, pointing to three new studies supporting the vaccine’s effectiveness against the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alerted clinicians to an outbreak of suspected fungal meningitis among U.S. patients hospitalized in Texas after undergoing cosmetic procedures under epidural anesthesia at clinics in Matamoros, Mexico.

The AHA, joined by five other hospital associations, urged the Federal Trade Commission to abandon its unprecedented policy to enforce the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act against state-approved mergers and acquisitions, specifically with Louisiana Children’s Medical Center’s state-approved merger with HCA Healthcare.  

The FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Australian Cyber Security Centre issued recommendations to help critical infrastructure organizations protect their networks from ransomware attacks and data extortion by a cybercriminal group known as BianLian. 

Technology was the topic for the May 17 plenary session discussion between Ivor Horn, M.D., director of health equity and social determinants of health at Google, and Joy A. Lewis, AHA senior vice president for health equity strategies and executive director of IFDHE.

Across America, many girls lack access to menstrual products, facing a public health crisis known as “period poverty.” Without these products, girls can miss school, be humiliated and experience health problems. One health system is addressing the problem in its community and looking to help.

Mergers and acquisitions are a vital tool to keep financially struggling hospitals open and allow hospitals and health systems to reduce costs, improve quality and better serve patients where they live, AHA told the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee May 17 in a statement submitted for a hearing on health care costs and consolidation.

Congress should support flexible payment options and update reimbursement rates to help rural hospitals overcome the challenges that threaten access to care in rural communities, the AHA told the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care in a statement submitted for a hearing May 17 on the issue.

A qualified, engaged and diverse workforce is the heart of America’s health care system, Robyn Begley, AHA senior vice president of workforce and chief nursing officer, testified May 17 at a House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittees on Health and Oversights and Investigations joint oversight hearing. 

AHA May 17 shared with the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations its concern that some MA plans inappropriately restrict beneficiary access to medically necessary covered services and urged Congress to increase its oversight of these plans.

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health May 17 considered a series of health care bills, including a number focused on provisions that would affect hospitals and health systems.

AHA’s 2023 Accelerating Health Equity Conference began today in Minneapolis, convening more than 800 stakeholders working at the intersection of health care and equity.

State, local, territorial and tribal jurisdictions may apply through June 30 for grants of up to $500,000 each for three years to implement interventions to address social determinants of health across four domains: the built environment, community-clinical linkages, food and nutrition security, and social connectedness.

While counseling and other services are an important part of a comprehensive treatment plan for opioid use disorder, the provision of medication should not be made contingent upon participation in such services, the Food and Drug Administration and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration told health care providers in guidance intended to clarify buprenorphine prescribing recommendations.

Hospitals may continue to bill through calendar year 2023 for certain outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech language pathology services, Diabetes Self-Management Training, and Medical Nutrition Therapy provided by hospital staff to Medicare beneficiaries in their homes through telecommunication technology, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said in an update to a FAQ on the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.