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In a blog about the third year of Juneteenth’s acknowledgement as a national holiday, Joy A. Lewis, AHA’s senior vice president for health equity strategies and executive director of the AHA Institute for Diversity and Health Equity, discusses the importance of the holiday becoming established as a day of scholarship and education, and an opportunity for hospitals and health systems to educate all employees on health equity causes. 

Men can provide important support for women during their pregnancy and help create better outcomes for mother and child. Dr. Amina Alio, from University of Rochester Medical Center, and Jonathan Webb, CEO of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, explore the role of fathers in maternal and child health.

President Biden intends to appoint as the next Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Mandy Cohen, M.D.

The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory committee June 15 voted unanimously to recommend updating the current COVID-19 vaccine composition for fall to a monovalent vaccine based on an XBB variant of the virus.

When someone known as a “relator” brings a False Claims Act lawsuit on behalf of another party, the federal government may seek to dismiss the FCA action over the relator’s objection, so long as it intervened sometime during or after the litigation, the Supreme Court ruled June 16.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency yesterday urged organizations to apply Progress Software updates  to the MOVEit Transfer web application to prevent ransomware attackers from exploiting a critical vulnerability used to steal data

AHA’s Leadership Summit, which will be held July 16-18 in Seattle, brings together many of the best minds in health care, medicine and technology with a shared passion for innovation as the road to advancing health.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission today released its June report to Congress that recommended the adoption of additional site-neutral payment policies for certain outpatient services.

The AHA and Catholic Health Association of the United States June 15 released a joint statement responding to a Human Rights Watch report on nonprofit hospitals and the community benefits they provide.

The Health Resources and Services Administration yesterday awarded 20 grants to train nurse practitioners, physician assistants, health service psychologists, counselors, nurses and social workers to provide mental health and substance use disorder treatment, including opioid use disorder services, in underserved community-based settings that integrate primary care, mental health and SUD/OUD prevention, treatment and recovery.

AHA has signed on as a sponsor of this year’s “A Capitol Fourth” concert — the nation’s longest running live July 4 celebration. AHA will celebrate the contributions of hospital and health care workers as part of this legendary event with a 30-second television spot and digital media.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday launched a webpage for consumers on patient protections from unexpected out-of-network medical bills under the No Surprises Act.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FBI, Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) and international partners June 14 recommended health care and other critical infrastructure organizations take certain actions to defend their networks against LockBit ransomware based on observed incidents.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services June 13 approved state plan amendments allowing New York state to extend postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months after pregnancy for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollees under the American Rescue Plan Act.

Rural hospital leadership teams are encouraged to apply through Aug. 31 for this AHA award honoring outstanding leadership and responsiveness to community health needs through collaboration and innovation.

Anson (Texas) General Hospital CEO Ted Matthews and chief nursing officer Anna Doan discuss how the Rural Emergency Hospital designation has worked for the hospital so far and what the local patient population thinks about the change.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimates national health spending grew 4.3% in 2022, including just 0.8% growth in spending for hospital care, as increases in federal spending for public health outpaced slower growth for most major payers, the agency reported June 14 in Health Affairs.

As the House Energy and Commerce Committee works to reauthorize key programs within the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) Act of 2018, AHA June 14 encouraged its Subcommittee on Health to consider certain recommendations to improve federal payment policies, reduce regulatory burdens for behavioral health care and strengthen the behavioral health workforce.  

The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum are accepting applications through Aug. 7 for the 2023 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards, which recognize individuals and organizations for innovative approaches to improve patient safety and health care quality.

In a letter to governors, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra encouraged states to use all available options (https://www.medicaid.gov/resources-for-states/downloads/state-strategies-to-prevent-procedural-terminations.pdf) to streamline Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program redeterminations and prevent eligible enrollee’s from losing coverage due to procedural issues