News

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response released an online calculator to help clinicians and health care facilities increase their capacity to administer monoclonal antibodies to patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 who are at risk for progressing to severe disease and hospitalization.

The Food and Drug Administration revoked its emergency use authorizations for all disposable respirators lacking National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health approval, and for decontamination and bioburden reduction systems used to extend the use of disposable respirators.

The Health Resources and Services Administration opened the Provider Relief Fund reporting portal for providers to begin reporting to the government that they used federal emergency relief funds for health care-related expenses or lost revenues attributable to COVID-19.

The departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury released “Part 1” of regulations implementing the No Surprises Act.

As urged by the AHA, UnitedHealthcare delayed indefinitely a policy that would have required in-network, freestanding and outpatient laboratory claims to contain a laboratory-specific, unique code for the overwhelming majority of laboratory testing services, in addition to the standard Current Procedural Terminology codes.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology released a definition of critical software, which the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency will use to develop a list of critical software products, as directed by President Biden in a May executive order on improving U.S. cybersecurity.

Engaging U.S. health systems to provide expert consultations to low- and middle-income nations receiving America’s donated COVID-19 vaccine can offer a “shot of hope” to global vaccination efforts, writes Luke Lindberg, executive director of global strategy, Innovation and World Clinic for Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, S.D.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Broomfield, Colo.-based SCL Health used its resources to dispatch nurses and caregivers where they were most needed, and has taken lessons-learned to better its future collaboration, communication and staff well-being

AHA’s Joining Hands for Greater Impact series highlights how hospitals have partnered with community stakeholders throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Any threat to the stability of the health care workforce is a threat to the nation’s infrastructure, writes Robyn Begley, AHA chief nursing officer and CEO of its American Organization for Nursing Leadership, in an op-ed published today by Healthcare Dive.

The Food and Drug Administration identified 43 new drug and biological product shortages in 2020, down from 51 in 2019, and 86 ongoing shortages from prior years, according to the agency’s latest annual report to Congress on the issue.

The AHA released a new episode of PowerPlay, the on-demand video series that connects AHA members to major players in policy, politics and science.

The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine produces neutralizing antibody titers against the Delta variant, although fewer than against the ancestral strain of the virus, the company announced.

The AHA urged the State Department to give foreign-trained nurses seeking immigrant visas priority for processing to solve the backlog of immigrant visas for eligible foreign-trained nurses.

AHA today asked Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to allow providers that received funding prior to June 30, 2020 to use their COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund payments through the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency or, at a minimum, through the end of 2021.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a proposed rule with additional policies for health insurance issuers and the Health Insurance Marketplaces (exchanges) for plan years 2022 and beyond.

The AHA is accepting applications through Oct. 15, 2021 for its 2022 American Hospital Association Quest for Quality Prize.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health awarded local governments $250 million in grants to work with community-based organizations to increase health literacy about COVID-19 vaccination, mitigation and services among underserved and racial and ethnic minority populations.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services June 29 issued its calendar year 2022 proposed rule for the home health prospective payment system.

AHA urged the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to delay by six months its compliance dates for the recently announced COVID-19 Health Care Emergency Temporary Standard, thus giving hospitals and health systems ample time to implement the policy’s many new requirements.