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The latest stories from AHA Today.

Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City launched a four-part set of best practices for antibiotic prescribing at its urgent care clinics in July 2019. Since doing so, prescribing at those clinics dropped by nearly 30%. The effort was initiated with a $1.8 million contract awarded by the Centers…
The Joint Commission updated elements of performance requirements for hospitals, critical access hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers participating in the Advanced Total Hip and Total Knee Replacement Certification program. The standards, which will go into effect July 1, 2020, include 11 new…
The Joint Commission released findings of a study showing a professional development course called the Program for Distressed Physicians reduced unprofessional physician behavior. The program consisted of three one-day sessions spread over six months in which physicians learned, among other things…
The Surgeon General released a report on smoking cessation reviewing and updating the evidence on why it is important to quit smoking. The report covers the health and economic benefits of smoking cessation to both the individual and society, updates findings on nicotine addiction and highlights a…
The American Hospital Association partnered with the SOAR for Organizations and the Department of Health and Human Services' National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center to offer free in-person training on human trafficking March 4–5 in Nashville, Tenn. The training was…
An American Hospital Association (AHA) webinar, Instilling Value With Low-Tech Solutions, will be held on Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. In this webinar, AHA’s Value Initiative teams up with leaders from Sharp HealthCare in San Diego, Calif.
State reforms expanded the role of APRNs on multiple fronts. Arkansas, Florida and South Carolina recently advanced APRN prescriptive authority for opioids in specific circumstances, and legislation enacted in other states improved or clarified APRN scope of practice, including signature authority.
In a joint hearing entitled Expecting More: Addressing America’s Maternal and Infant Health Crisis, two subcommittees of the House Education and Labor Committee heard testimony focused on ways to reduce maternal mortality and eliminate racial disparities in maternal and infant health. Leaders from…
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), of the approximately 70,000 deaths resulting from drug overdoses that occurred in 2018, 69% were opioid related. In a review of barriers to Medicaid beneficiaries’ access to medication-assisted treatment, the GAO reported the ability of…
This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) posted interim guidance related to the 2019 novel coronavirus for health care professionals. The posting provides criteria for evaluating a patient under investigation for having the virus, including clinical features and epidemiologic…