News

Commenting April 12 on a proposed rule to strengthen oversight of accrediting organizations, AHA told the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services it supports requiring accrediting organizations to use Medicare’s Conditions of Participation and Conditions for Coverage as their minimum accreditation standards, and to provide an explicit crosswalk of their standards with relevant Medicare regulations.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ revised “bulletin” for HIPAA covered entities and business associates using online tracking technologies only confirms that the original bulletin was “substantively and procedurally unlawful,” AHA April 11 told a federal court hearing its challenge to a bulletin issued by HHS’ Office for Civil Rights that restricts health care providers from using standard third-party web technologies that capture IP addresses on portions of their public-facing webpages.

The AHA’s 2024 Annual Membership Meeting gets underway in two days with a jam-packed schedule featuring prominent federal legislators, top officials from the Administration, influential newsmakers, and hospital and health system leaders who are propelling innovation in our field.

Christina Campos, CEO of Guadalupe County Hospital in Santa Rosa, N.M., and Steven Summer, former president of the Colorado and West Virginia Hospital Associations, will receive 2024 AHA Board of Trustees Awards April 15 at the AHA Annual Membership Meeting in Washington, D.C., for their contributions to AHA and the field.

AHA has released digital tools to help hospitals and health systems celebrate National Hospital Week May 12-18, including a video, ad, toolkit, graphics and GIPHY library.

“Even before the recent Change Healthcare cyberattack that has left some hospitals fronting millions of dollars in extra costs, a perfect storm of complex factors was already threatening the future of high-quality patient care — and misguided proposals from policymakers risk making things even worse,” writes Nancy Howell Agee, CEO of Carilion Clinic and chair of the Coalition to Strengthen America’s Healthcare, whose founding members include the AHA.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention April 11 updated its strategy to improve data exchange with health care organizations and other public health authorities to better detect and monitor public health threats.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today issued a proposed rule that would increase Medicare inpatient prospective payment system rates by a net 2.6% in fiscal year 2025.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today proposed increasing long-term care hospital standard rate payments by 1.2% in fiscal year 2025 relative to FY 2024.

Two caregivers discuss how Colorado’s San Luis Valley Hospital creatively maximizes its resources to continue to deliver obstetric services to the families and communities it serves.

On April 15 at the AHA Annual Membership Meeting in Washington, D.C., AHA will present its 2024 Award of Honor to Ken Kaufman — founder, managing director and chair of Kaufman Hall.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) April 5 released an advisory on the top 10 ransomware groups targeting the health care sector.

In a statement submitted April 10 to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health for a hearing on legislative proposals to support patient access to telehealth services, AHA voiced support for certain proposals that would extend critical telehealth flexibilities set to expire this year, expand telehealth access to patients with limited English proficiency and help inform telehealth changes for the future.

On April 15 at the AHA Annual Membership Meeting in Washington, D.C., AHA will present Nancy Howell Agee, CEO of Carilion Clinic, and Brian Gragnolati, president and CEO of Atlantic Health System, with its highest honor — the Distinguished Service Award — for their longtime service to the AHA and the field.

Women with health-related social needs such as food insecurity, housing instability and lack of transportation were less likely to report receiving a mammogram in the past two years when surveyed in 2022, according to a report released April 9 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health care leaders and other officials April 9 discussed challenges to rural health care access and potential solutions during an event in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the Coalition to Strengthen America's Health Care: Protecting 24/7 Care.

After an April 7 investigative series published by The New York Times highlighted disturbing incentives for data analytics firm MultiPlan and large commercial insurers like UnitedHealthcare, Aetna and Cigna to cut reimbursement rates for care provided to employees of companies with self-funded employer insurance plans and increase costs for patients receiving that care, the AHA today urged the Department of Labor to take action. 

Health Services Research, the flagship publication of AHA’s Health Research & Educational Trust, seeks abstracts through June 17 on potential manuscripts for a special issue on the role of health services research in cancer prevention and control, specifically how artificial intelligence, data analytics and policy innovation can improve cancer care across the continuum.

For future public health emergencies, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should improve how it sets Medicare rates for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests under the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule and communicates with stakeholders involved in setting the rates, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General advised last week.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and territorial public health officials Friday met to discuss preparedness planning for bird flu after one person recently tested positive after exposure to infected dairy cattle in Texas.