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The latest stories from AHA Today.
The average monthly premium for a basic Medicare Part D prescription drug plan in 2016 will remain stable at an estimated $32.50, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced yesterday. The projection is based on bids submitted by drug and health plans for basic drug coverage for the…
Hospitals with structural characteristics reflecting volume, accreditations and advanced services tend to perform better than others on publicly reported quality measures but are penalized significantly in the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program, according to a study published this week…
The Institute for Diversity in Health Management (IFD) this fall is piloting a program that will place diverse individuals, who recently completed a graduate degree program, at internships in hospitals and health systems across the country.
Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., received the second annual AHA Equity of Care Award July 24 at the Health Forum/AHA Leadership Summit in San Francisco.The award recognizes hospitals for their efforts to reduce health care…
Mortality rates, hospitalization rates and inpatient spending per beneficiary declined markedly for Medicare patients aged 65 and older between 1999 and 2013, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The annual death rate from all causes declined to 4.5% from 5.3…
The U.S. Senate Monday passed by unanimous consent legislation that would require hospitals to provide Medicare beneficiaries with written notification and a related oral explanation at discharge or within 36 hours, whichever is sooner, if they receive more than 24 hours of outpatient observation…
The House Energy and Commerce Committee today approved by voice vote the AHA-supported Protecting Our Infants Act (H.R. 1462). The bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Rep.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services this week released guidance related to its recent announcement that Medicare audit contractors will not deny certain Part B physician fee schedule claims based solely on the specificity of the ICD-10 code for 12 months after ICD-10 implementation.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force yesterday recommended that all adults be screened for depression in a primary care setting “with adequate systems in place to ensure accurate diagnosis, effective treatment and appropriate follow up.” The task force will accept comments on the…
The AHA encourages all hospitals to submit data to the quarterly RACTrac survey by Friday. The free web-based survey helps AHA gauge the impact of Medicare's Recovery Audit Contractor program on hospitals and advocate for needed changes. For more information on the RACTrac initiative, including a…