News

The Food and Drug Administration alerted clinical laboratories and health care providers of its ongoing effort to monitor the potential molecular test impact resulting from SARS-CoV-2 mutations, including the B.1.1.7 variant that has emerged from the United Kingdom.

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar today discussed public health issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination efforts, during a virtual forum moderated by AHA Executive Vice President Tom Nickels.

The Department of Health and Human Services formally renewed the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration effective Jan. 21. The 90-day extension will help hospitals and health systems combat COVID-19 in their communities. 

Hospitals and health systems added 31,500 jobs in December, even as U.S. jobs overall declined by 140,000, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allocated $22 billion in funding to states, localities and territories for COVID-19 testing and vaccination activities authorized in December by the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.

Carolyn Scanlan, a trustee at Penn Medicine Lancaster (Pa.) General Health will chair the AHA's Committee on Governance in 2021. William Menner, chair, UnityPoint Health – Grinnell (Iowa) Regional Medical Center, will serve as vice chair.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has recalculated the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule payment rates and conversion factor for calendar year 2021 to reflect changes effective Dec. 27 under the Consolidated Appropriations Act.

The AHA urged the Department of Health and Human Services to exercise enforcement discretion with the hospital price transparency rule that took effect Jan. 1. 

The AHA released the latest edition of the COVID-19 Snapshot, which highlights the critical needs of hospitals and health systems during the deepening public health emergency.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released updated guidance in response to questions on maintaining Medicaid enrollment during the Public Health Emergency under its interim final rule implementing Section 6008 of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Jan. 8 at 1 p.m. ET will discuss public health initiatives that HHS has worked on over the past four years, as well as activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including vaccination efforts.

The AHA urged the Department of Health and Human Services to take certain steps to speed COVID-19 vaccinations.

The past 10 months have been filled with jarring and dissonant images, scenes that have prompted us to say, “never thought we’d see that in our country.” Unfortunately, we now have to add yesterday’s storming of the U.S. Capitol and assault on our democracy to that mix.  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 21 cases of anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction, among the nearly 1.9 million people who received a first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine between Dec. 14 and 23.

Siri Nelson, CEO of Marshall Medical Center in Placerville, Calif., will serve as 2021 chair of the AHA Rural Health Services Council. Philip Pandolph, president and CEO of Meadville Medical Center in Meadville, Pa., is chair-elect. The AHA Board liaison is Joanne Conroy, M.D., president and CEO of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center One in Lebanon, N.H.

States’ decisions to expand Medicaid may have important implications for their hospitals’ financial ability to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published in Health Affairs.

President Trump signed into law a bill (H.R. 7898) containing provisions that require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to consider certain recognized cybersecurity best practices when making determinations against HIPAA-covered entities and business associates victimized by a cyberattack.

CHI Health and Creighton University Medical Center, an academic medical center in Omaha, Neb., partnered to design and build University Clinic, a new primary care-based medical facility that functions as a learning laboratory for inter-professional health sciences education, research and collaborative team-based care.

Penny Wheeler, M.D., CEO of Allina Health in Minneapolis, will chair AHA's Health Systems Council in 2021, and Bob Garrett, CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health in Edison, N.J., will serve as chair-elect.

U.S. life expectancy rose an average 0.1 year in 2019, to 81.4 for females and 76.3 for males, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.