News

Given the recent upsurge in COVID-19 cases around the country, we can’t say how much longer the official public health emergency will last. But we do know that many regulatory waivers put into place by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at the start of the pandemic have worked very well and deserve to live on past the current crisis. 

The AHA Aug. 6 announced the promotion of Lisa Kidder Hrobsky to senior vice president of legislative and political affairs.

The California Department of Public Health issued a pair of public health orders for health care facilities, establishing the state as the nation’s first to require workers in health care settings to be fully vaccinated.

The Health Resources and Services Administration yesterday

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Office of Minority Health have released the Minority Health Social Vulnerability Index, a tool to help emergency response planners and public health officials apply a health equity lens to research, strategic planning, program design and evaluation related to response and recovery for COVID-19 and other public health emergencies.

The American Medical Association published a Current Procedural Terminology code for providers administering a potential third dose of the current Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

The Department of Health and Human Services should better engage and communicate with stakeholders to improve the HHS Protect data system and how it collects hospital capacity data during a public health emergency, according to a report released by the Government Accountability Office.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study confirming the comparative effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines versus natural immunity, including immunity gained from prior SARS-CoV-2 infection.

In evaluating whether to temporarily suspend survey activities if a hospital experiences a COVID-19 surge, CMS last month told AHA it will consider whether the hospital has notified the appropriate state public health agency and activated its emergency preparedness plan, and the proportion of hospital staff and resources dedicated to managing COVID-19 patients.

The AHA launched a video encouraging families with children 12 and older to add COVID-19 vaccinations to their back-to-school preparations.

The Senate unanimously passed the AHA-supported Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act (S. 610). A companion bill (H.R. 1667) introduced in the House in March awaits consideration.

Dignity Health Global Education is partnering with CommonSpirit to create a scholarship program to tackle a lack of diversity in health care.

The AHA has elected six new members to its Board of Trustees for three-year terms beginning Jan. 1.

Robyn Begley, AHA chief nursing officer and senior vice president for workforce and CEO of AHA’s American Organization for Nursing Leadership, participated in a U.S. News and World Report panel discussion on “Developing the Healthcare Workforce of Tomorrow.” 

In a large clinical trial, treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients who did not require organ support with a full-dose blood thinner reduced the need for organ support, such as mechanical ventilation, and helped them leave the hospital, the National Institutes of Health reported. 

Moderna Inc. announced during an investors report that its COVID-19 vaccine remains 93% effective through the first six months following a full dosing regimen

The AHA is helping lawmakers in Washington, D.C., understand the COVID-19 pandemic’s renewed strain on hospitals and health systems by releasing a new issue of the COVID-19 Snapshot.

Eco-Med Pharmaceuticals Inc. recalled a nonsterile ultrasound gel distributed under various brand names, including EcoGel and MediChoice, instructing health care facilities to immediately destroy or return the products due to contamination with the bacteria Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc).

AHA yesterday sent a letter to the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division expressing its serious concern with the adequacy of any remedy to resolve the anticompetitive impact of UnitedHealth Gr

More than 2.5 million people have returned to the federally facilitated health insurance marketplace since April 1 to save an average 40% ($42) on their monthly premiums, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced.