News

The AHA strongly opposes site-neutral proposals to reduce payment for certain hospital outpatient services furnished in excepted off-campus provider-based departments to 40 percent of the outpatient prospective payment system rate in calendar year 2019, the association told the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today, commenting on the agency’s proposed rule for the OPPS and ambulatory surgical center payment system.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has extended the deadline for 2017 participants in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System to request a targeted review of their 2019 payment adjustment from Sept. 30 to Oct. 15 at 8 p.m. ET.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights recently announced settlements that serve as a reminder to hospitals about the importance of obtaining patients’ authorization before inviting film crews on premises where filming could potentially disclose patients’ protected health information.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation last week awarded its 2018 Culture of Health Prize to four communities for their commitment to improving health for all residents: Cicero, Ill., Eatonville, Fla., Klamath County, Ore., and San Antonio.

President Trump yesterday released a National Cyber Strategy, which outlines how the administration plans to strengthen U.S. cybersecurity.

Clinicians assessing patients affected by Hurricane Florence should be vigilant in looking for community and health care-associated infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised yesterday.

The U.S. death rate decreased 8% between 2006 and 2016, to about 729 deaths per 100,000 residents, according to the latest annual report on the nation’s health by the National Center for Health Statistics, which includes a special feature on mortality.

Having options is good. Having options when it comes to health care is essential. Patients need the flexibility to get the treatment they need in the setting that’s most appropriate and convenient for them. But a recent proposal by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services could jeopardize patients’ access to convenient care. 

Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan plans to meet quarterly with health care investors and innovators to discuss and receive perspectives on emerging opportunities and how the government can facilitate and accelerate innovation.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams today released a report highlighting actions individuals and families, health care providers, educators, employers, researchers and communities can take to prevent and treat opioid use disorders and reduce overdose deaths.

The Illinois Supreme Court today unanimously upheld the state’s hospital property tax exemption law, rejecting the plaintiff’s argument that the statute was unconstitutional because it failed to expressly mention the constitutional requirements for exemption.

The AHA today hosted a forum in Los Angeles in which hospital and health system leaders from across the country shared strategies their organizations are undertaking to make health care more affordable.

More than 100 organizations, including the AHA, yesterday urged House and Senate leaders to include the Overdose Prevention and Patient Safety Act (H.R. 6082) in the final agreement on opioid legislation.

The Department of Health and Human Services this week awarded more than $1 billion in grants to help combat the opioid crisis.

Opioid-related hospital stays and emergency department visits for patients 65 and older increased 54 percent and 100 percent, respectively, between 2010 and 2015.

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday updated its Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy for extended-release and long-acting opioid analgesics, and extended the same requirements to immediate-release opioid analgesic products.

The North Carolina Hospital Foundation, a 501(c)(3) affiliate of the NC Healthcare Association, has established a disaster relief fund to support North Carolina health care workers who suffered significant property loss to their homes during Hurricane Florence and the subsequent flooding.

The Senate today voted 93-7 to pass legislation that would provide $178.1 billion in discretionary funding for the departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education in fiscal year 2019 and extend current funding levels for other federal programs until Dec. 7.

President Trump today announced a National Biodefense Strategy to “more effectively prepare for and combat biological threats.”

The Senate last night voted 98-2 to approve the Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act (S. 2554), a bill that would prohibit private health plans from restricting a pharmacist’s ability to inform enrollees when a drug would cost less without using their insurance.