News

UnitedHealth Group’s Temporary Funding Assistance Program “is not even a band-aid on the payment problems you identify,” AHA wrote March 4 in a message to UHG in response to a program the company unveiled March 1 following a cyberattack on UHG’s subsidiary Change Healthcare.

The AHA March 4 urged Congress to consider a number of actions to support hospitals’ efforts to care for patients as the entire health care system continues to navigate the effects of the ongoing cyberattack against Change Healthcare.

Communication. Teamwork. Unity. That’s what helps drive health care innovation, accelerates health equity, improves health outcomes and advances health in our communities.

Ron Werft, president and CEO of Cottage Health, and Felicia Sadler, vice president of Quality at Relias, discuss insights and real-world approaches outlined in the 2024 AHA Health Care Workforce Scan, designed to help organizations reimagine, redesign and transform their workforce strategies.

The Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care, of which the AHA is a founding member, is continuing to run TV and digital ads urging Congress not to cut hospital care for patients.

U.S. and international agencies Feb. 29 urged health care and other critical infrastructure organizations using Ivanti Connect Secure VPN and Ivanti Policy Secure to take certain steps to defend against known cyber threats that Ivanti’s Integrity Checker Tool may fail to detect.

The cyberattack against Change Healthcare that began on Feb. 21 is the most serious incident of its kind leveled against a U.S. health care organization.

AHA is looking forward to spring and March Madness in its latest social media toolkit for hospitals’ and health systems’ use to promote vaccination against the flu and COVID-19.

A new toolkit from AHA and its American Society for Health Care Engineering is helping prepare hospital and health system leaders to navigate the complex landscape of sustainability and decarbonization within the health care field.

Organizations using the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework as their primary cybersecurity framework report one-third lower cyber insurance premium cost growth, according to the 2024 Healthcare Cybersecurity Benchmarking Study, produced by Censinet and KLAS Research in collaboration with the AHA, Health Information and Analysis Center (Health-ISAC), and Healthcare and Public Health Sector Coordinating Council. 

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health Feb. 29 held a hearing on legislative proposals to expand access to treatment for patients with rare diseases, which included two hospital witnesses.

AHA Feb. 29 filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of a Louisiana law that prohibits drug companies from denying Louisiana hospitals the same 340B discounts for drugs dispensed at community pharmacies that would be provided via in-house pharmacies, its latest in a string of lawsuits claiming the federal law that created the 340B program preempts the state law. 

The House Feb. 29 voted 320-99 to pass a continuing resolution that would extend funding through March 8 for four appropriations bills set to expire March 1 and through March 22 for eight appropriations bills set to expire March 8.

AHA experts discuss how ChatGPT and artificial intelligence are transforming health care data analytics and some of the potential pitfalls.

President Biden Feb. 28 directed the Department of Justice to issue regulations to protect personal health and other data from countries known to collect and misuse it.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Mandy Cohen, M.D., Feb. 28 endorsed a recommendation by its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that adults ages 65 years and older receive an additional updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine dose. 

The FBI, Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, and Department of Health and Human Services Feb. 27 released updated recommendations to help health care and other critical infrastructure organizations defend against ALPHV Blackcat ransomware. 

AHA and 51 other national organizations Feb. 27 voiced support for the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act (H.R. 6205/S. 3211), bipartisan legislation that would recapture 25,000 unused employment-based visas for foreign-born nurses and 15,000 for foreign-born physicians to help address staffing shortages.

Bipartisan, bicameral leaders of the House and Senate and their Appropriations Committees Feb. 28 announced an agreement to extend funding through March 8 for four appropriations bills set to expire March 1 and through March 22 for eight appropriations bills set to expire March 8.

Fred Hobby, former president and CEO of the Institute for Diversity in Health Management, shares his thoughts on the current state of health equity efforts and diverse leadership in health care, as well as his reflections on his time at the AHA and what is now the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity.