News

AHA urged the Federal Communications Commission to grant expedited approval to its request that the agency extend the COVID-19 Telehealth Program to all hospitals and other direct patient care facilities, regardless of their size, location, or for-profit or not-for-profit status.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about the “triple whammy” of issues related to COVID-19 that are contributing to an unprecedented financial crisis for hospitals and health systems.

A federal district court in Washington, D.C., heard oral argument in the AHA’s legal challenge to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ final rule mandating that hospitals disclose their privately negotiated charges with commercial health insurers.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Michael Bennett, D-Colo., and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, introduced AHA-supported legislation (S. 3615) that would extend for five years the Medicare Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program.

Hospitals and health systems are designing new digital response strategies in the battle against COVID-19. What lessons have been learned so far, and which digital response methods are most successful?

As the nation celebrates National Nurses Week in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses' commitment and strength is inspiring communities across the country and their leadership is essential, writes AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack in a special message to the American Organization for Nursing Leadership.

To streamline the reporting of COVID-19 lab test results, the CDC encouraged all U.S. hospital laboratories to submit their COVID-19 testing information to their state or local public health department following their normal protocol for reportable conditions.

The Department of Health and Human Services released updated FAQs related to payments from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund.

The AHA and other national hospital organizations asked congressional leaders to include in the next COVID-19 legislative package provisions to shield from unwarranted liability the health care facilities and providers treating patients during the pandemic. 

The Department of Health and Human Services has extended the deadline for health care providers to attest to receipt of payments from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund and accept the terms and conditions.

A new AHA resource shares ways hospitals and health systems are helping to care for and support the health care workforce during the COVID-19 crisis.

Last month, the AHA announced the availability of HealthEquip, a new app-powered resource matching hospitals in need of personal protective equipment with organizations donating PPE.

The Department of Health and Human Services reminded health care providers that HIPAA privacy rules bar them from giving media and film crews access to facilities where patients’ protected health information is accessible without the patients’ prior authorization, even during the current COVID-19 public health emergency.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently launched a webpage to provide information about an agency-developed serologic test to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

The Food and Drug Administration issued guidance implementing section 3121 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which requires manufacturers to notify FDA of a permanent discontinuance or significant interruption in the manufacture of certain medical devices to prevent or mitigate shortages during the COVID-19 emergency.

The AHA urged the American Bankers Association to encourage its member financial institutions to commit to working expeditiously with hospital and health system borrowers who are unable to meet financial and operating covenants because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized the first serology test in which independent federal data provided the scientific evidence used to support the authorization.

SARS-CoV-2 may spread from individuals who are presymptomatic or asymptomatic, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report based on epidemiologic, virologic and modeling studies before CDC recommended widespread use of face masks.

The CDC updated guidance designed to keep health care personnel safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with patient isolation strategies to ensure consistency in CDC’s criteria for patient discontinuation of transmission-based precautions and health care personnel return-to-work guidance.

In its recently updated report “COVID-19 Models: Forecasting the Pandemic’s Spread,”, AHA looks at five new COVID-19 forecasting models, including two free AHA tools to help visualize the nation’s hospital bed capacity.