News

The AHA today submitted comments on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ inpatient prospective payment system proposed rule for fiscal year 2019, offering key recommendations with respect to Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospital payment, CAR T-cell therapy, rural hospitals, the wage index, hospital quality reporting and value programs, and electronic health information exchange.

The AHA’s Health Research & Educational Trust is partnering with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Catholic Health Association of the United States, with leadership and funding from the John A. Hartford Foundation, to create age-friendly health systems.

The House of Representatives today voted 396-14 to approve bipartisan legislation (H.R. 6) that will serve as a Senate vehicle for many of the House-passed bills to combat the opioid crisis and includes a number of AHA-supported provisions. 

The House Budget Committee yesterday voted 21-13 to approve a fiscal year 2019 budget resolution that would balance the budget within nine years.

The AHA yesterday urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to offer two additional start date options for the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced model in 2019 – Jan. 1 and April 1.

AHA and three member hospitals today recommended to a federal district court four non-deadline remedies to reduce the backlog of Medicare billing appeals awaiting adjudication at the Administrative Law Judge level.

The FDA yesterday approved the first continuous glucose monitoring system with a fully implantable sensor, designed to measure glucose levels in adults with diabetes for up to 90 days.

The California Hospital Association and other partners this week launched Behavioral Health Action, a statewide effort to engage candidates and highlight the importance of addressing behavioral health issues in 2018 elections.

Oregon hospitals provided a record $2.19 billion in community benefit activities in 2016, according to a report released this week.

We were pleased to see the House of Representatives this week move forward dozens of bills designed to address aspects of the opioid epidemic that costs more than 100 American lives each day and continues to ravage communities across the nation.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services seeks comments through Aug. 24 on how it can reduce regulatory burdens and obstacles to care coordination associated with the physician self-referral (Stark) law.

The House Ways and Means Committee today approved legislation (H.R. 6142) that would require the Health and Human Services secretary to develop with stakeholders a plan to reduce waste related to single-use drug vials.

The White House today issued a report with recommendations for structural realignment of the executive branch, including renaming the Department of Health and Human Services as the Department of Health and Public Welfare.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today released a resource to help electronic health record vendors and others incorporate post-acute care assessment instrument data elements into electronic health record products to improve interoperability and facilitate care coordination.

The Joint Commission has issued an advisory on human trafficking, which offers information and resources to help medical providers recognize and support victims.

IThe Department of Health and Human Services’ Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response shares lessons learned related to pre-hospital care, trauma and emergency response from mass shootings at a large outdoor concert, nightclub and place of worship.

The American Society for Healthcare Engineering will present its 2018 Energy Champion Award to Kaiser Permanente Zion Medical Center in San Diego and Energy to Care Awards to 68 hospitals for slashing energy use.

Lee Sacks, M.D., chief medical officer for Advocate Aurora Health, will receive the Health Research & Educational Trust's 2018 TRUST Award July 26 at the AHA Leadership Summit in San Diego.

The House of Representatives has approved 20 more bills to address the opioid crisis, including five supported by the AHA. Among the AHA-supported bills:

Shortages of intravenous saline and other fluids are beginning to improve, according to the Food and Drug Administration.