News

The Food and Drug Administration issued guidance allowing pharmacies and outsourcing facilities to repackage, under certain conditions and during the public health emergency, FDA-approved propofol drug products for hospitals having difficulty obtaining adequate supplies in the sizes they use to support or treat patients with COVID-19.

On an AHA call , Department of Justice Associate Deputy Attorney General Bill Hughes asked hospitals and health systems for their assistance in uncovering illicit activity related to the COVID-19 health crisis.

The AHA and other national hospital organizations urged the Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to make improvements to the Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment Programs.

President Trump yesterday suspended new immigrant visas for 60 days, exempting medical and other essential workers combating the COVID-19 emergency.

The House of Representatives today approved and sent to the president the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, a COVID-19 relief package that includes an additional $75 billion to reimburse eligible hospitals, health systems and other providers for health care-related expenses or lost revenues not otherwise reimbursed that are directly attributable to COVID-19.

As health care unleashes every tool at its disposal against COVID-19, new and evolving technologies are leading the way.

The Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will have sufficient funds to pay full benefits until 2026, according to the latest annual report from the Medicare Board of Trustees.

The Health Resources and Service Administration announced that the National Practitioner Data Bank will reimburse entities that conducted queries (one-time and continuous) via query credits, retroactive to March 1, 2020, and lasting through May 31.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved a state of Washington-developed emergency demonstration project to adjust its Medicaid program temporarily in order to combat COVID-19.

The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response has shared a number of new COVID-19-related resources, including alternate care toolkits and strategies; webinars on relieving health care worker stress and crisis standards of care; and a workforce toolkit.

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority asked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to approve a Healthy Adult Opportunity demonstration waiver for its new low-income adult Medicaid population.

The Food and Drug Administration recently announced that Avet Pharmaceuticals Inc. issued a voluntary recall of the antibiotic, tetracycline, specifically, Tetracycline HCl Capsules USP, 250 mg and 500 mg, distributed under the Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc. label.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has launched a webpage to address questions about importing personal protective equipment and other medical products during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created stresses that most health care workers have never experienced, writes Robert Trestman, M.D., of Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Va., and 2020 chair-elect of AHA’s Behavioral Health Council. Read more about the resources available for front-line workers.

In this AHA blog, Priya Bathija, AHA vice president of strategic initiatives, shares stories of health care heroes stepping up to address the challenge of COVID-19 and ways the public can support them.

In this AHA blog, Priya Bathija, AHA vice president of strategic initiatives, shares stories of health care heroes stepping up to address the challenge of COVID-19 and ways the public can support them.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services unveiled a new COVID-19 toolkit for state and local health care decision makers seeking to maximize workforce flexibilities.

In response to frequently asked questions, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services encouraged health insurers to relax otherwise applicable utilization management processes, as permitted by state law, to ensure that staff at hospitals, clinics and pharmacies can focus their limited time and resources on care delivery, and patients can receive needed care without delay.

The Health Resources and Services Administration Federal Office of Rural Health Policy today awarded $161.5 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding to help rural hospitals and communities respond to the COVID-19 emergency.

Battelle is adding nine processing sites for decontaminating compatible N95 and equivalent respirators for reuse by health care personnel, bringing the total states served to 15 and Washington, D.C.