News

While various reports and rankings of hospital performance in recent months might lead you to believe that hospitals have taken their foot off the gas, this couldn’t be further from the truth, writes Akin Demehin, AHA’s senior director of quality and patient safety policy

AHA’s Hospitals Against Violence initiative, Jones Day and HEAL Trafficking (Health, Education, Advocacy, Linkage) hosted Forced Labor in Health Care Supply Chains: What Hospital Leaders Need to Know, an event in New York where speakers from Northwell Health shared practical information and resources to help health care providers prevent human trafficking, with a focus on health care supply chain issues.

A new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services bulletin reviews the anticipated end dates for certain COVID-19-related Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance coverage flexibilities.

A bipartisan group of senators recently reintroduced the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act (S. 1302), AHA-supported legislation that would increase by 14,000 the number of Medicare-funded residency positions to help alleviate physician shortages that threaten patients’ access to care.     

AHA urged leaders of the House (LINK) and Senate (LINK) Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education to give favorable funding consideration in fiscal year 2024 to health care programs shown to improve access to quality health care for patients and communities.  

As urged by the AHA, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released a temporary rule extending telehealth prescribing flexibilities for buprenorphine and other controlled substances through Nov. 11, 2024, while they develop final regulations “consistent with public health, safety, and effective controls against diversion.”

Consumers and health care providers should not use certain SD Biosensor Pilot COVID-19 At-Home Tests distributed by Roche Diagnostics due to bacterial contamination, but throw them in the trash, the Food and Drug Administration announced.

America’s hospitals and health systems each year deliver 3.5 million babies, care for 32 million people admitted to hospitals, employ 6.3 million people, and provide emergency care to 123 million people, notes an AHA and American Organization for Nursing Leadership ad published May 8.

This week as we celebrate National Hospital Week (https://www.aha.org/ahia/get-involved/national-hospital-week) and National Nurses Week (https://www.aonl.org/about/nurses-week), it’s a perfect time for telling the hospital story.

A new AHA case study showcases a real-world example of ways hospitals are mitigating violence risk to build a safe workplace.

A nursing leader from the University of Vermont Health Network shares creative ways to help attract and retain nurses, a major workforce challenge, particularly in rural health care settings.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., today announced plans to leave the agency at the end of June. 

After growing for 20 years, the number of students in entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs fell 1.4% last year, according to data released this week by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

After the COVID-19 public health emergency ends on May 11, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will use COVID-19-associated hospital admission levels as the primary indicator to guide community and personal decisions related to risk and prevention behaviors.

The AHA, joined by the Federation of American Hospitals, Catholic Health Association of the United States, America’s Essential Hospitals, and Association of American Medical Colleges, yesterday urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to keep in place pending appeal an Affordable Care Act requirement that most health plans cover certain preventive services without cost sharing

This year’s observance of National Hospital Week, May 7-13, and National Nurses Week, May 6-12, are opportunities to thank our dedicated caregivers and recognize the tremendous job they have done taking care of our country through one of the most trying episodes in our history.

AHA on May 4 voiced support for bipartisan legislation in the House and Senate that would authorize through fiscal year 2025 a federal program that provides grants to public graduate medical education programs for physicians, with a focus on states with the most severe primary care provider shortages.

Summertime is right around the corner and AHA’s new social media toolkit promotes COVID-19 vaccination and boosters as a means for keeping kids active and healthy when school’s out.

“As we shift toward a post-pandemic world, let’s not lose sight of all that we’ve learned about caring for patients during this difficult time, when demand for mental health services has risen to record levels,” writes Manish Sapra, M.D., executive director of behavioral health services at Northwell Health and a member of the AHA’s Committee on Behavioral Health, during Mental Health Awareness Month.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in partnership with the AHA, has released a series of four short videos to help promote hand hygiene. The videos aim to engage and educate all personnel in effective hand hygiene, foster accountability, and advance continuous quality improvement.