News

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday warned the health care community about complications that arise when pairing pain medications with intrathecal implanted pumps when the medications are not approved for use with those devices, which deliver medicine into spinal fluid.

Atrium Health (formerly Carolinas HealthCare System) today agreed to settle, without financial penalty or admission of wrongdoing, a 2016 Department of Justice lawsuit alleging the health system used its market power to restrict health insurers from encouraging consumers to choose providers that offer better value.

Almost 1.2 million people selected a 2019 health plan through HealthCare.gov Nov. 1-10, including more than 804,000 last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported yesterday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit yesterday affirmed a district court decision that barred the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from using FAQs 33 and 34 in calculating Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payments for Tennessee hospitals.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today announced blanket waivers from certain Medicare, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program requirements to help health care providers meet patients’ needs in areas affected by the California wildfires.

Kentucky Hospital Association President and CEO Mike Rust plans to retire at the end of 2019 after leading the association for 24 years.

AHA today joined more than 80 organizations in urging House and Senate leaders to bring H.R. 1318/S. 1112 to the floor for a vote before yearend. The AHA-supported legislation would provide federal funding for states to develop maternal mortality review committees to better understand maternal complications and identify solutions.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar yesterday declared a public health emergency in California due to the wildfires, and waived or modified certain Medicare, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program requirements to help health care providers meet patients’ needs.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar today previewed the agency’s plans to better address social determinants of health.

he National Center for Healthcare Leadership last night presented its 2018 Gail L. Warden Leadership Excellence Award to Nancy Howell Agee, president and CEO of Carilion Clinic and 2018 AHA chair.

The CDC has confirmed 90 cases of acute flaccid myelitis in 27 states so far this year, triple the number in 2017, according to a report the agency released today.

CMS announced new opportunities for states to design innovative service delivery systems for adults with serious mental illness and children with serious emotional disturbance, including Section 1115 waivers for short-term residential treatment services in an Institution for Mental Disease.

Seventeen organizations, including the AHA, today urged Congress to resist any attempts from the pharmaceutical industry to undo during the lame duck session provisions included in the Bipartisan Budget Act to make prescription drugs more affordable for seniors.

President Trump has declared a major disaster in counties affected by the California wildfires, making federal funding available to help individuals and organizations recover, the FEMA announced today.

Outpatient opioid prescriptions for children have steadily declined since 2012, driven by fewer prescriptions for hydrocodone, according to a study reported online by JAMA Pediatrics.

A health system consortium recently received $9 million from the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Moonshot initiative to develop, implement and evaluate an app to help patients report and better manage their cancer treatment symptoms.

The Camp Fire seriously damaged part of Adventist Health Feather River hospital in Paradise, Calif., including some inpatient units and multiple hospital outbuildings, the hospital reports.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has updated its alternative payment model participation status tool for the 2018 Quality Payment Program, which identifies eligible clinicians who qualify as advanced APM participants based on Medicare Part B claims data through June.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will discuss its updated price transparency guidelines for hospitals during a Nov. 13 Open Door Forum.

The Department of Health and Human Services today updated its physical activity guidelines for Americans, the first since the guidelines were released in 2008.