News

The Department of Health and Human Services July 23 released an amendment to a 2013 emergency declaration under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act that broadens the scope in which the agency can help facilitate certain medical countermeasures in response to a public health emergency such as a pandemic.

During the July 22 morning plenary session, Stacey Hughes, AHA’s executive vice president of government relations and public policy, moderated a panel with Paul Begala, political analyst and commentator for CNN, and Scott Jennings, CNN contributor, conservative columnist and former presidential advisor.

The AHA Board of Trustees elected Marc L. Boom, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Houston Methodist, based in Houston, as its chair-elect designate.

AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack opened the 2024 AHA Leadership Summit in San Diego discussing the similarities of the U.S. Navy Seals to the hospital field in its commitment to operational flexibility, team cohesion, cultural awareness, use of advanced technology, and physical and mental resilience. 

Clinicians bring all of their skill and mental acuity to treat the whole patient, but there are many factors that can derail their ability to provide patient care.

The newest in AHA’s series of People Matter, Words Matter posters, which emphasize the need for person-first language in health care settings, focuses on using caring and compassionate language about people with disabilities.

The Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare has launched its annual indexing survey for 2024, which tracks trends in the adoption of electronic transactions for routine administrative interactions between health care providers and health plans

The AHA July 19 expressed concerns to the Department of Labor about the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s proposed emergency response rule.

A non-malicious global technology outage that began in the early morning of July 19 is continuing to affect many industries and is having varying effects on hospitals and health systems across the country. The outage was caused by a faulty software update issued by the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which is widely used by businesses and government agencies that run on Microsoft computers. 

Throughout history, a huge driver of human progress has been the story of talented young minds looking at age-old problems and challenges through a fresh new lens. In today's world, this is especially true of health care, which continues to rapidly evolve as we strive to deliver superb patient care while keeping pace with changing technologies, developing care models, evolving regulations and financial challenges. Fortunately, our field is blessed with many outstanding leaders who are deftly navigating the complex health care environment and guiding their organizations to a bright future.

AdventHealth’s Be a Mindleader initiative aims to help children and parents become more comfortable discussing mental health and connect families to counseling services.

Boston Medical Center, a private, not-for-profit, equity-led academic medical center is the winner of AHA’s 2024 Foster G. McGaw Prize for its leadership and initiatives to improve care quality, care access and health equity in its surrounding community.

John Riggi, AHA’s national advisor for cybersecurity in risk, participated July 18 as the opening keynote speaker in the Information Security Media Group’s Healthcare Cybersecurity Summit in New York City to discuss emerging threats, defense measures and other cybersecurity issues within the health care sector.

WellSpan Health in York, Pa., will receive the 2024 AHA Quest for Quality Prize for its commitment to improving quality through its health equity strategic plan and other initiatives.

Access to quality mental and physical health services can be a complex challenge, but for individuals of color and people with severe or chronic mental illnesses, finding treatment can be exceptionally hard.

The results of a study published July 16 by JAMA Network Open showed a 19% increase in postpartum primary care provider visits for patients through the use of automated, op-out appointments, reminders and educational messages. 

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response July 16 announced it will work with the Department of Commerce on an assessment of the active pharmaceutical industrial base to better understand the pharmaceutical supply chain and how it has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services July 16 released its final guidance on the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan which will begin next year.

The AHA July 16 urged the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation not to implement its newly proposed Increasing Organ Transplant Access Model as currently constructed, expressing concerns about many of its design features.

Terry Fulmer, Ph.D., R.N., president of the John A. Hartford Foundation, explains in a new blog how its "4Ms" care model aligns with AHA's Patient Safety Initiative.