News

A bipartisan group of 13 senators yesterday urged Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to initiate a rulemaking process to modernize 42 CFR Part 2 to allow safer, more effective and better-coordinated treatment for patients with substance use disorders.

Eligible organizations can apply through May 6 for up to $1 million each for a three-year period to expand opioid and other substance use disorder services in high-risk rural communities.

The House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee today held a

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar this week highlighted the agency’s goals for promoting prevention, value-based care and transplant opportunities for beneficiaries with kidney disease.

In remarks this week, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma hinted at some of the coming changes to the agency’s Stark Law regulations.

In a large clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and conducted at HCA Healthcare hospitals, an infection control technique reduced bloodstream infections by 31 percent and antibiotic-resistant bacteria by nearly 40 percent among non-intensive care unit patients with central-line catheters and lumbar drains.

U.S. News & World Report plans to incorporate certain data from the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Compare website and the AHA Annual Survey Database into its 2020-21 Best Hospitals for Rehabilitation rankings, and encourages IRFs and acute-care hospitals with inpatient rehabilitation units to make sure the relevant data are complete.

Hospitals and health systems understand the importance of making health care more affordable for everyone, and they “have been tackling the issue head on, taking steps to redesign care and implement operational efficiencies,” AHA said.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services late today released new guidance to help surveyors identify when to cite health care providers or suppliers for violations of health and safety regulations that cause serious harm or death to a patient.

The rate of hospital-onset methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections declined 17.1 percent per year between 2005 and 2012, but did not change significantly between 2013 and 2016.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee today held a hearing

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., announced that he will step down in about a month.

Five hospitals and five payers are participating in the first year of the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model, a multi-payer global budget model for rural critical access and acute-care hospitals in the state.

The ongoing outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo serves as a reminder for U.S. health care facilities to review their infection prevention and control processes to safely identify and manage patients with communicable infections.

A panel commissioned by the American Board of Medical Specialties to review the continuing certification process recently released a report on its findings and recommendations.

The AHA, along with Baxter International Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust, is accepting applications through April 5 for the 2019 Foster G. McGaw Prize.

All around us, we see exciting examples of bold thinking and experimentation to better serve patients. Already, many of these new models and methods are achieving positive results.

The Food and Drug Administration’s draft guidance on blood glucose monitoring test systems for prescription point-of-care use would appropriately improve the safety and efficacy of the devices while recognizing their vital role in hospitals and health systems, AHA said in comments submitted yesterday.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released updated resources intended to clarify whether a hospital outreach laboratory qualifies as an “applicable laboratory” under the Medicare Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule and detailing related requirements for collecting and reporting private-payer rate clinical laboratory test payment and volume data.

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday issued a warning letter to CanaRx, a company that contracts with employers to provide select prescription drugs to employees, for facilitating the distribution of unapproved and misbranded drugs.