News

Medicare accountable care organizations in the 2020 Shared Savings Program have until Sept. 22 to decide whether to move to the Next Generation ACO Model in 2021, while those participating in the 2020 Next Generation ACO Model have until Oct. 23 to make the change, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation announced.

As COVID-19 cases surge, Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Ark., faces growing financial and other pressures that threaten its ability to continue meeting its community’s health care needs.

The AHA and its members are partnering with the Department of Health and Human Services to encourage eligible patients who recover from COVID-19 to donate convalescent plasma, which contains antibodies that could help other patients fight the virus.

The Federal Reserve issued FAQs about the Main Street Lending Program facilities for nonprofit organizations, including the Nonprofit Organization New Loan Facility and the Nonprofit Organization Expanded Loan Facility.

The Department of Health and Human Services will devote $5 billion of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act’s Provider Relief Fund to enhance COVID-19 response at Medicare-certified long-term care facilities and state veterans’ homes, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced.

The AHA has elected eight new members to its Board of Trustees for three-year terms beginning Jan. 1.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Newport infections.

The financial outlook for Phoenix-based Banner Health has changed dramatically since the pandemic entered their communities and forced the shutdown of non-emergency services.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the National Academy of Medicine July 24 will host its inaugural committee meeting on the equitable allocation of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care launched a national television ad urging Congress to pass emergency funding to help provide immediate financial relief to hospitals and health systems.

The Department of Health and Humans Services said it has an agreement with Pfizer to produce and deliver 100 million doses of the drug maker’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

The Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on the COVID-19 pandemic and seniors, which focused on racial health disparities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently posted updated considerations for ending isolation for adults with COVID-19, based on new evidence.

When ordering COVID-19 laboratory tests or collecting specimens, health care providers should collect certain patient demographic information and responses to certain questions needed for COVID-19 data reporting, according to updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Department of Health and Human Services shared additional information on reporting requirements for recipients of provider relief funds authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act.

Congress should allocate as part of the next COVID-19 relief package at least an additional $100 billion to the emergency relief fund to provide direct funding to front line health care personnel and providers, the AHA, American Medical Association and American Nurses Association wrote to Senate leaders.

Kimberlydawn Wisdom, M.D., senior vice president of community health and equity and chief wellness and diversity officer at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, shares valuable insights and innovations on bridging gaps of inequities in mental health care for communities in-need.

Federal Communication Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has named John Riggi, AHA senior advisor for cybersecurity and risk, to represent the field and the AHA on the agency’s Hospital Robocall Protection Group, which will issue best practices to combat unlawful robocalls to hospitals.

An estimated 2.8% of Indiana residents aged 12 or older randomly tested in late April had SARS-CoV-2 infection or antibodies, and 44% of those with active infections reported no symptoms, according to a July 21 report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Kevin Brady, R-Texas, and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released separate legislative proposals that would make permanent certain Medicare telehealth flexibilities allowed during the COVID-19 pandemic.