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The latest stories from AHA Today.
Hospitals and eligible professionals can attest to meaningful use of electronic health records for the 2015 Medicare Electronic Health Records Incentive Program if they are requesting a hardship exception, according to a new Frequently Asked Question posted by the Centers for Medicare &…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will accept comments through April 5, not April 11, on its proposal to establish a home health prior authorization demonstration, the agency said in a correction notice yesterday.
The Senate Special Committee on Aging today held a hearing on opioid use among seniors. Steven Diaz, M.D., senior vice president and chief medical officer for MaineGeneral Health in Augusta, ME, said his hospital’s emergency department saw 10 opiate overdoses in patients age 65 or older…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state public health departments are investigating 14 additional reports of possible sexual transmission of the Zika virus, including several involving pregnant women, CDC announced yesterday. Meanwhile, the agency strongly encourages public…
The Food and Drug Administration continues to recommend that hospitals and other facilities using automated endoscope reprocessors made by Custom Ultrasonics transition to alternative methods to reprocess flexible endoscopes as soon as possible, the agency said in an update yesterday. FDA…
Hospitals with greater reductions in readmissions rates are no more likely to increase their observation-service use than other hospitals, according to a study reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study examines readmission and observation-service rates before, during and…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will implement a new confirmation process in September to ensure that people who enroll in health coverage through HealthCare.gov outside of the traditional enrollment period meet the criteria for special enrollment.
Hospitals and health systems partnering with others to improve community health are likely to embrace a collaborative governance model, according to a study released today by a Blue Ribbon Panel of the AHA’s Center for Healthcare Governance. The study explores how eight recipients of the…
The Senate Finance Committee today held a hearing examining the opioid abuse epidemic and its effect on the health of America’s seniors and children. Witnesses included representatives from Pew Charitable Trusts’ health programs; Children and Family Futures, Lake Forest, CA; and…
Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Edward Markey (D-MA), Angus King (I-ME), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) yesterday urged the Food and Drug Administration to implement a Risk Evaluation and Management Strategy for immediate-release opioid pain relievers. The…