/ en Thu, 31 Jul 2025 17:07:50 -0500 Thu, 31 Jul 25 13:23:33 -0500 /role-hospitals-integris-health-mobile-health-clinic-helps-bridge-access-care-oklahoma-communities <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-6"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-07/ths-integris-health-mobile-clinic-700x532.jpg" alt="Telling the Hospital Story: INTEGRIS Health Mobile health clinic helps bridge access to care in Oklahoma communities. Stock image of male health worker outdoors at a rural event, speaking with community members" width="700" height="532"></p></div><p>INTEGRIS Health in Oklahoma has been working to meet people where they are with their Mobile Health Clinic, launched in March 2019. Having a focus on prevention and chronic disease management, this initiative is aimed at expanding access to health care for underserved communities in Oklahoma County. The clinic travels directly to at-risk neighborhoods, eliminating barriers such as lack of transportation, long wait times and appointment difficulties. Staffed by a dedicated team of nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers and health educators, the mobile unit offers comprehensive services including health screenings, case management, cooking demonstrations and wellness resources. By partnering with organizations like the Oklahoma Lions Service Foundation and the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, the clinic integrates health care with food distribution and education, addressing both medical and social drivers of health.</p><p>The clinic’s impact has been measured through a robust evaluation framework that tracks biometric screenings, patient follow-ups, educational session participation and emergency room utilization rates. Community engagement is central to its success, with local churches, schools and civic organizations helping to identify needs and shape services. The program has demonstrated effectiveness in improving health behaviors and access to care, particularly in high-poverty zip codes. The INTEGRIS Mobile Health Clinic not only bridges health access gaps but also sets a replicable model for sustainable, community-centered health care delivery.</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://integrishealth.org/about-integris/serving-our-community/outreach-programs/mobile-wellness-clinic">LEARN MORE</a></p><p> </p></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/center/population-health">Improving Health and Wellness</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Thu, 31 Jul 2025 13:23:33 -0500 Rural issues /fact-sheets/2022-08-30-fact-sheet-rural-hospital-support-act-s4009-assistance-rural-community <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-8"><h2><span>Background</span></h2><p>Medicare pays most acute care hospitals under the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS). Some of these hospitals receive additional support from Medicare to help address potential financial challenges associated with being rural, geographically isolated and low volume. These programs are Medicare-dependent Hospitals (MDHs), Low-volume Adjustment (LVA) and Sole Community Hospitals (SCHs).</p><p><span><strong>Without action from Congress, the enhanced LVA and MDH programs will expire Sept. 30, 2025.</strong></span></p><h3><span>Why are these programs important?</span></h3><p>The network of providers that serves rural Americans is financially fragile and more dependent on Medicare revenue due to the high percentage of Medicare beneficiaries who live in rural areas. Rural residents also on average tend to be older, have lower incomes and higher rates of chronic illness than urban counterparts. This greater dependence on Medicare may make certain hospitals more financially vulnerable. Indeed, Medicare only pays 82% of hospital costs on average according to our latest analysis. Additionally, over 150 rural hospitals have closed or converted to other provider types since 2010. These designations protect the financial viability of small, rural hospitals to ensure they can continue providing patients access to care.</p><h3><span>Medicare-dependent Hospitals</span></h3><p>Congress established the MDH program in 1987 to help support small rural hospitals for which Medicare patients make up a significant percentage of inpatient days or discharges. MDHs are small, rural hospitals where at least 60% of their admissions or patient days are from Medicare patients. MDHs receive the IPPS rate plus 75% of the difference between the IPPS rate and their inflation-adjusted costs from one of three base years.</p><h3><span>Low-volume Adjustment</span></h3><p>Certain factors beyond providers’ control can affect the costs of furnishing services, including patient volume. This is particularly relevant in small and isolated communities where providers frequently cannot achieve economies of scale like larger hospitals. Congress established the LVA program in 2005 to help isolated, rural hospitals with a low number of discharges. Currently under the enhanced program, they must be more than 15 miles from another IPPS hospital and have fewer than 3,800 annual total discharges. These LVA hospitals receive a payment adjustment based on a sliding scale formula to ensure the patients and communities these hospitals serve continue to have access to care.</p><h3><span>Sole Community Hospitals</span></h3><p>The SCH program was created to maintain access to needed health services for Medicare beneficiaries in isolated communities. In order to be eligible for the program, SCHs must show that because of distance or geographic boundaries between hospitals, they are the sole source of inpatient hospital services reasonably available in a certain geographic area. They receive increased payments based on their cost per discharge in a base year.</p><h2><span>AHA Position — Cosponsor the Rural Hospital Support Act (S.335) & the Assistance for Rural Community Hospitals (ARCH) Act</span></h2><p>The Rural Hospital Support Act (S.335) includes the following important AHA-supported policies to ensure access to care:</p><ul><li>Permanently extends the MDH program and adds an additional base year that hospitals may choose for calculating payments.</li><li>Permanently extends the enhanced LVA program, which would continue to allow hospitals more than 15 miles from another IPPS hospital and have fewer than 3,800 annual total discharges to be eligible.</li><li>Adds a base year that SCHs may select for calculating their payments.</li></ul><p>The ARCH Act helps rural hospitals continue to serve their patients and communities by extending the current MDH and LVA programs by five years and will soon be reintroduced in the House.</p></div><div class="col-md-4"><a href="/system/files/media/file/2022/08/fact-sheet-rural-hospital-support-act-s4009-the-assistance-for-rural-community-hospitals-act-hr8747.pdf" target="_blank" title="Click here to Download the Fact Sheet: Rural Hospital Support Act (S.4009) & the Assistance for Rural Community Hospitals Act (H.R.8747)"><img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Page-1-fact-sheet-rural-hospital-support-act-the-assistance-for-rural-community-hospitals-act-20250205.png" data-entity-uuid="60a4126d-3db7-4725-81d8-adc2020afcef" data-entity-type="file" alt="Fact Sheet: Rural Hospital Support Act (S.1110) & the Assistance for Rural Community Hospitals Act (H.R.6430) page 1." width="681" height="900"></a></div></div></div> Fri, 25 Jul 2025 11:28:44 -0500 Rural issues /news/headline/2025-07-16-hawley-introduces-aha-supported-bill-would-revise-medicaid-provisions-enacted-one-big-beautiful-bill <p>Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., July 15 introduced <a href="https://www.hawley.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Hawley-Protect-Medicaid-and-Rural-Hospitals-Act.pdf" target="_blank">legislation</a> that would repeal some of the Medicaid funding reductions included in the recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Specifically, the Protect Medicaid and Rural Hospitals Act would repeal provider tax and state directed payment provisions within the OBBBA.</p><p>“Your legislation strikes these two sections to mitigate the impact of Medicaid reductions on hospitals and health systems and allow them to continue to serve their patients and communities,” AHA said today in a <a href="/lettercomment/2025-07-16-aha-expresses-support-protect-medicaid-and-rural-hospitals-act" target="_blank">letter</a> to Hawley expressing support for his legislation.  </p><p>Hawley’s bill also would double funding for the Rural Health Transformation Fund from $50 billion to $100 billion and extend the duration of the fund from five to 10 years. The Rural Health Transformation Fund was established as part of the OBBBA.</p> Wed, 16 Jul 2025 15:42:54 -0500 Rural issues /lettercomment/2025-07-16-aha-expresses-support-protect-medicaid-and-rural-hospitals-act <p>July 16, 2025 </p><p>The Honorable Josh Hawley<br>United States Senate<br>115 Russell Senate Office Building<br>Washington, DC 20510 </p><p>Dear Senator Hawley: </p><p>On behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, our clinician partners — including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers — and the 43,000 health care leaders who belong to our professional membership groups, the ���������� Association (AHA) writes to express our appreciation for your leadership during the debate on the reconciliation package and offer support for your legislation, the Protect Medicaid and Rural Hospitals Act. If enacted, your legislation will help hospitals and communities mitigate the impact of the Medicaid reductions that were part of the recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA; Public Law No: 119-21). </p><p>The Medicaid program provides services for 72 million Americans, and the OBBBA would reduce federal support for the program by nearly $1 trillion and cause many millions of people to lose access to health insurance. Among the law’s provisions are significant changes to how provider taxes and state directed payments (SDPs) will operate. Provider taxes and SDPs are important tools states use to ensure providers are more adequately reimbursed by a program that historically underpays them for the care they deliver to Medicaid patients. In 2023, Medicaid underpaid hospitals and health systems nationwide by $27.5 billion for treating program beneficiaries. SDPs also support hospital financial viability and allow them to offer essential services for Medicaid recipients, including labor and delivery and behavioral health care, which ultimately contributes to the wellbeing of everyone served by their local facility. The Congressional Budget Office estimates Sections 71115 and 71116 of the OBBBA would cut $340 billion in federal funding from the Medicaid program over the next 10 years. Your legislation strikes these two sections to mitigate the impact of Medicaid reductions on hospitals and health systems and allow them to continue to serve their patients and communities. </p><p>In addition, you build upon the provisions of the OBBBA that seek to assist rural hospitals, some of which are struggling to operate, even before the major policy changes of the OBBBA are enacted. The Protect Medicaid and Rural Hospitals Act provides for an additional $50 billion for the Rural Health Transformation program. These funds are a positive step toward mitigating some of the other Medicaid policy changes in the OBBBA that could negatively impact rural hospitals. </p><p>Thank you for your continued attention to the issues that affect America’s hospitals and health systems, and we look forward to working with you to increase support for your legislation. </p><p>Sincerely, </p><p>/s/ </p><p>Richard J. Pollack<br>President and Chief Executive Officer   </p> Wed, 16 Jul 2025 14:21:17 -0500 Rural issues /role-hospitals-ochsner-lafayette-general-medical-center-opelousas-general-health-system-partner-local-organizations-create <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-7"><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-07/ths-acadiana-country-roads-inclusion-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="Ochsner. An ethnically diverse medical team of three men and three women wearing scrubs and white coats" width="700" height="532" class="align-left"></div><p>In the heart of rural Louisiana, Acadiana Workforce Solutions has launched the Country Road Inclusion Project, an initiative aimed at tackling the region’s critical shortage of health care workers. The project focuses on training and placing individuals from underserved communities into vital health care roles. By partnering with local educational institutions and two health care systems, Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center and Opelousas General Health System, the program seeks to create a sustainable pipeline of talent to serve rural populations. “We understand the importance of addressing health care workforce challenges while creating opportunities for individuals in our community," said Patrick W. Gandy, Jr., chief executive officer of Ochsner Lafayette General. "Through our partnerships, we are already seeing tremendous success in filling critical gaps in the health care workforce.</p><p>The initiative is gaining traction, with participants expressing hope and excitement about new career paths. Through targeted outreach and support services, the project aims to remove barriers that have historically limited access to health care careers in rural areas, such as transportation and training.</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ochsner-health-system-_acadiana-workforce-solutions-launches-country-activity-7286020186892054529-f9kN/" target="_blank">LEARN MORE</a></p><p> </p></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/workforce-home">Workforce</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Tue, 15 Jul 2025 16:06:06 -0500 Rural issues /aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2025-07-15-microsoft-plan-help-rural-care-facilities-improve-cybersecurity-gains <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-8"><img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Microsoft-Plan-to-Help-Rural-Care-Facilities-Improve-Cybersecurity-Gains-Traction.png" data-entity-uuid="e75e2bcb-4df1-44e8-a32f-077c4905e53d" data-entity-type="file" alt="Microsoft Plan to Help Rural Care Facilities Improve Cybersecurity Gains Traction. A cybersecurity lock appears above a database in cyberspace." width="100%" height="100%"><p>Efforts launched about 18 months ago by Microsoft to help rural health care facilities improve cybersecurity and expand access to artificial intelligence (AI) continue to gain traction.</p><p>The initiative, created in concert with the AHA, includes free and heavily discounted cybersecurity services and more. A Microsoft executive noted in a recent <a href="https://medcitynews.com/2025/07/microsoft-innovation-hospital-healthcare/" target="_blank" title="MedCity News: How Microsoft Is Sparking Innovation in Rural Hospitals">interview</a> that more than 700 rural hospitals nationwide are now taking part in the program.</p><p>Microsoft’s rural health program gives providers free access to cybersecurity assessments, cyber awareness training and tech product support. The company also offers deep discounts on its tools and software for critical access and rural emergency hospitals, stated Laura Kreofsky, rural health director for Microsoft Philanthropies.</p><p>Microsoft also plans to help level the innovation playing field through its rural health artificial intelligence (AI) lab. Two cohorts of rural hospitals have collaborated with the company to build AI tools for use cases, including optimizing outbound referral workflows and automating insurance claim denials, Kreofsky noted.</p><p>Visit the Microsoft cybersecurity program <a href="https://nonprofits.tsi.microsoft.com/EN-US/security-program-for-rural-hospitals/" target="_blank" title="Microsoft: Sign up for the Cybersecurity Program for Rural Hospitals">registration page</a> to learn more and sign up for the program.</p><p>Hospitals and health systems also are encouraged to visit the <a href="/cybersecurity/support-cybersecurity-program">AHA's Cybersecurity Support webpage</a> for additional resources from AHA cybersecurity partners.</p><p>For more information on this or other cyber and risk issues, contact John Riggi, the AHA’s national adviser for cybersecurity and risk, at <a href="mailto:jriggi@aha.org?subject=RE: Information on Cyber and Risk Issues">jriggi@aha.org</a>. For the latest cyber and risk resources and threat intelligence, visit <a href="/cybersecurity">aha.org/cybersecurity</a>.</p></div><div class="col-md-4"><div class="sticky"><p><a href="/center" title="Visit the AHA Center for Health Innovation landing page."><img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-aha-innovation-center-color-sm.jpg" data-entity-uuid="7ade6b12-de98-4d0b-965f-a7c99d9463c5" alt="AHA Center for Health Innovation logo" width="721" height="130" data-entity- type="file" class="align-center"></a></p><p><a href="/center/form/innovation-subscription"><img src="/sites/default/files/2019-04/Market_Scan_Call_Out_360x300.png" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type alt width="360" height="300"></a></p></div></div></div></div>.field_featured_image { position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } .featured-image{ position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } h2 { color: #9d2235; } div.sticky { position: sticky; top: 0; } Tue, 15 Jul 2025 06:00:00 -0500 Rural issues /news/headline/2025-07-10-applications-open-ahas-rural-hospital-excellence-innovation-award <p>The Rural Hospital Excellence in Innovation Award honors rural hospitals that are leading the way in innovative, sustainable and community-centered care. If your hospital is operating unique programs and services that address health care challenges in your community, submit an <a href="https://aha-awards.secure-platform.com/awards">application</a> by noon CT, Aug. 29. Honorees will be recognized at the AHA’s Rural Health Care Leadership Summit in February 2026.  <br> </p> Thu, 10 Jul 2025 15:10:47 -0500 Rural issues /role-hospitals-chi-health-offers-free-training-fill-workforce-shortages <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-7"><img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/STC-CHI-Health-ST-Elizabeth-700x532.PNG" data-entity-uuid="b6894718-be49-4fdf-ad89-cc0704474813" data-entity-type="file" alt="Students training in CHI Health St. Elizabeth's CNA Advance Program." width="700" height="532" class="align-left"><p> </p></div><p>CHI Health St. Elizabeth in Lincoln, Neb., is creating its own solution to the health care field’s staffing problem.</p><p>The organization’s CNA Advance Program offers free training, testing and employment to individuals in the Lincoln and Omaha area who want to become certified nursing assistants (CNAs). The students can more quickly climb the health care career ladder, while CHI Health fills gaps in its workforce.</p><p>Alicia Wenz recently graduated from the three-week program and is now employed in the progressive care unit at CHI Health St. Elizabeth.</p><p>“I just love being able to be a part of a care team that helps people get better,” Wenz said.</p><p>She is one of more than 40 students to complete the program since it launched in 2024. Once students pass a final exam, they are guaranteed employment at a CHI Health hospital of their choice. They also receive free CPR and basic life support training and are eligible to get training in skills such as phlebotomy or recording EKGs.</p><p>“CNAs are extremely important to helping with our patient care,” said Jenny Stachura, CHI Health chief nursing officer for the Iowa/Nebraska market. “CNAs will help take vital signs, they’ll do blood pressure, heart rate, those kinds of things. They really help assist the nursing team with anything that is needed.”</p><p>Program instructor Heidi Enderson works with students in the classroom and in a simulated patient room for hands-on practice. “The students can have all the practice they need if they want to go over a skill. We’ll either watch the video or do it again,” Enderson said. “I feel it’s very important for the hands-on part to kind of solidify and make sense of all these skills.”</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://www.chihealth.com/careers/cna-opportunities" target="_blank">LEARN MORE</a></p><p> </p></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/workforce-home">Workforce</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Wed, 09 Jul 2025 14:13:37 -0500 Rural issues /testimony/2025-07-09-aha-statement-senate-help-committee-cybersecurity <p class="text-align-center"><strong>Statement</strong></p><p class="text-align-center"><strong>of the</strong></p><p class="text-align-center"><strong>���������� Association</strong></p><p class="text-align-center"><strong>for the</strong></p><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions</strong></p><p class="text-align-center"><strong>of the</strong></p><p class="text-align-center"><strong>United States Senate</strong></p><p class="text-align-center"><strong>“Securing the Future of Health Care: Enhancing Cybersecurity and Protecting</strong></p><p class="text-align-center"><strong>Americans’ Privacy”</strong></p><p class="text-align-center"><strong>July 9, 2025</strong></p><p>On behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals and health systems and other health care organizations, our clinician partners — including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers the ���������� Association (AHA) appreciates the opportunity to submit this statement for the record to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing, “Securing the Future of Health Care: Enhancing Cybersecurity and Protecting Americans’ Privacy.”</p><h2>HOSPITALS AND HEALTH SYSTEMS ARE COMMITTED TO CYBERSECURITY</h2><p>Cybersecurity is critical to ensuring that hospitals can provide safe, high-quality care to their communities. Hospitals and health systems have invested billions of dollars and taken many steps to protect patients and defend their networks from cyberattacks that can disrupt patient care and erode privacy by the loss of personal health care data. The AHA has long been committed to helping hospitals and health systems with these efforts, working closely with our federal partners, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and many others to defend against attacks from both criminal and national-state sponsored adversaries. The AHA has also worked with the Health Sector Coordinating Council and the Health-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) to build trusted relationships and channels for the mutual exchange of cyber threat information, develop risk mitigation practices, conduct regional field ransomware attack exercises and share lessons learned from ransomware attacks.</p><p>According to U.S. government reporting, the most significant cyber threats targeting U.S. critical infrastructure, including health care, originate from noncooperative foreign jurisdictions.<sup>1,2,3,4</sup> Cross-border hacking incidents, which result in the theft of protected health information (PHI) and ransomware attacks targeting health care have increased dramatically, rising nearly tenfold since 2020. According to the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR), the number of individuals impacted by health care data breaches increased from 27 million in 2020 to a staggering 259 million in 2024.<sup>5</sup>  It is important to note that most PHI data breaches reported to OCR were the result of hacking incidents targeting non-hospital health care providers, including third-party service and software providers. In 2024, the Change Healthcare ransomware attack alone resulted in the theft of 190 million Americans’ PHI — the largest health care data breach in history. The AHA’s work in this area was critically important, allowing us to quickly assist members in their response to the Change Healthcare cyberattack. Since 2020, as reported by OCR, 590 million Americans have been impacted by health care breaches, meaning that the entirety of the U.S. population of 330 million individuals has had their health care records compromised in some manner, with most being impacted more than once.  </p><h2>GOVERNMENT’S ROLE IN MITIGATING THE IMPACT OF CYBERATTACKS</h2><p><strong>Congress should call on federal agencies to protect hospitals and health systems — and the patients they care for — by deploying a strong and sustained offensive cyber strategy to combat ongoing and unresolved national security threats. </strong>Health care is a top critical infrastructure sector with direct impact on public health and safety, and must be protected. Any cyberattack on the health care sector that disrupts or delays patient care creates a risk to patient safety and crosses the line from an economic crime to a threat-to-life crime. These attacks should be aggressively pursued and prosecuted by the federal government. Imposing swift and certain consequences upon cyber adversaries, who are often provided safe harbor in noncooperative foreign jurisdictions, is essential to reducing the cyber threats targeting health care and the nation.</p><h2>CYBERSECURITY CHALLENGES FOR RURAL HOSPITALS</h2><p>Rural hospitals can face unique risks, challenges and impacts when defending against cyberattacks. Rural hospitals are geographically remote, located in non-metropolitan counties, and may be well over a hundred miles from the nearest hospital. Ransomware attacks, which result in diverting patients and ambulances, can create delays in the provision of critical health care services, which can elevate the risk of a negative outcome for the patient.</p><p>Rural hospitals can also face financial, human and technical resource challenges, which can affect the ability to respond to the increased cyber threat environment. Most rural hospitals operate on very thin financial margins or negative margins, with 48% of rural hospitals operating at a financial loss in 2023.<a href="#_ftn1" title="">[1]</a> Limited financial resources can impede rural hospitals’ ability to obtain the latest and most advanced cybersecurity technologies to defend and monitor hospital networks 24/7 and to replace aging and insecure third-party technology, such as medical devices. Lack of financial resources has also inhibited rural hospitals’ ability to recruit and retain cybersecurity professionals, who are in great demand in higher-paying urban areas, other sectors and government agencies. </p><p><strong>We look forward to working with Congress to find solutions to help rural hospitals manage cybersecurity challenges. We encourage Congress to provide additional financial resources and support for cybersecurity workforce strategies and training. </strong>For example, we support the development of workforce training programs to address the challenges of small and rural facilities. We also support workforce grant and retention efforts, with a particular focus on the retraining of veterans.</p><h2>CHANGE HEALTHCARE CYBERATTACK</h2><p>Last year’s attack on UnitedHealth Group’s Change Healthcare incapacitated significant portions of our health care system’s critical functions that keep the health care system operating — from claims processing to clinical information exchange to prescription processing. The attack was the most significant and consequential cyberattack on the U.S. health care system in American history and ultimately exposed data of more than 190 million people. Every hospital in the country felt the impact, either directly or indirectly. Impacts varied depending on factors such as the amount of cash reserves, vendor redundancy and reliance on Change Healthcare technology.</p><p>There are several lessons learned from this incident, and AHA would urge Congress to consider the following for future incidents:</p><ul><li>Financial resources, like the Accelerated and Advanced Payments (AAPs) and Temporary Funding Assistance program, and flexibilities in repayment terms were necessary long after systems were restored. Initially, the AAPs were only set up for 30 days and had an aggressive payback schedule. For many hospitals, it took months to fully work through claims backlogs and readjust cash flows. These resources were necessary to keep hospitals afloat while normal operating procedures were being restored. In the event of future large-scale incidents, it would be necessary to ensure resources are available for a sufficient time from the date of the incident and that reasonable, gradual repayment schedules are established.</li><li>Given the disruption in operating procedures and systems, HHS guidance was necessary to waive timely filing requirements for claims, extend timelines for appeals, and not deny claims due to lack of authorization/failure to give notice of admission/failure to electronically check eligibility, etc. For future incidents, these waivers and updates to timelines should be enacted sooner, since there is precedent from which to draw.</li><li>With respect to the Change Healthcare incident, the AHA urged for clarification that hospitals and other providers would not be responsible for additional breach notifications if UnitedHealth Group and Change Healthcare were doing so already. Streamlined notification processes would help avoid confusion and misunderstandings with messaging from multiple parties.</li><li>The Change Healthcare incident also underscored the importance of consistent cybersecurity standards across the health care ecosystem. With the rise in PHI data breaches related to third-party vendors, including Change Healthcare, it is imperative that entities not covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) must be subject to the same standards.</li></ul><h2>DEREGULATION EFFORTS TO SUPPORT DATA PRIVACY AND SECURITY</h2><p>The AHA supports the administration’s goals of reducing barriers for data interoperability and fostering innovation to support better health outcomes. We recognize the pivotal role that health technology plays in care delivery today and its potential to transform the patient and provider experience in the future. Moreover, we believe that technology and data interoperability have the potential to address some of the prevalent challenges confronting the health care ecosystem today, including provider burnout and staffing shortages driven by administrative burdens. We also recognize that the innovative applications of health information technology (IT) must be balanced with reasonable guardrails to protect sensitive patient data and ensure security and privacy.</p><p>The AHA highlighted recommendations regarding data security and privacy in response to a request for information from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology on the Health Technology Ecosystem.<sup>7</sup> We have also made similar recommendations in response to deregulation requests for information from the Office of Management and Budget, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice.<sup>8,9,10</sup> For example, we have urged the agency to modify the HIPAA cybersecurity rule of December 2024 to make the requirements voluntary and to modify the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule to remove the requirement to report breaches affecting fewer than 500 individuals. The AHA does not support proposals for mandatory cybersecurity requirements levied on hospitals as if they were at fault for the success of hackers in perpetrating a crime. Instead, the AHA supports voluntary consensus-based cybersecurity practices such as the cybersecurity performance goals. The now well-documented source of cybersecurity risk in the health care sector, including the Change Healthcare cyberattack, is from vulnerabilities in third-party technology, not hospitals’ primary systems. No organization, including federal agencies, is or can be immune to cyberattacks. To make meaningful progress in the war on cybercrime, Congress and the administration should focus on the entire health care sector and not just hospitals.</p><p><strong>As part of the AHA’s responses to deregulation requests for information, we have also urged the elimination of 42 CFR Part 2 requirements that hinder care team access to important health information and protect patient privacy under HIPAA.</strong> Despite regulatory changes in the past several years, the regulations in Part 2 are outdated, fail to protect patient privacy and erect sometimes insurmountable barriers to providing coordinated, whole-person care to people with a history of substance use disorder (SUD). Specifically, the regulations require the separation of records pertaining to SUD information, which prevents the integration of behavioral and physical health care because the patient data cannot be used and disclosed like all other health care data.</p><h2>HIPAA PREEMPTION</h2><p>While generally preempting contrary state law, HIPAA does not preempt state law that is “more stringent” than the requirements that it mandates.<sup> </sup>Specifically, state law is not preempted where: (1) state law is contrary to HIPAA; (2) relates to matters of individually identifiable health information; and (3) is more stringent than the HIPAA requirements.</p><p>For all the strengths of the existing HIPAA framework, its approach to preemption has proven to be problematic. It creates unnecessary regulatory burdens on hospitals and health systems, forcing them to satisfy a myriad of legal requirements that raise compliance costs and divert limited resources that could be used on patient care. In addition, the existing state and federal patchwork of health information privacy requirements remains a significant barrier to the robust sharing of patient information necessary for coordinated clinical treatment. For instance, the patchwork of differing requirements poses significant challenges for providers’ use of a common electronic health record that is a critical part of the infrastructure necessary for effectively coordinating patient care and maintaining population health.</p><p><strong>If Congress were to make any changes to HIPAA, it should address this problem and enact a full preemption provision.</strong> HIPAA is more than sufficient to protect patient privacy and, if interpreted correctly, it strikes the appropriate balance between health information privacy and valuable information-sharing. Varying state laws only add costs and create complications for hospitals and health systems.<strong> As such, the AHA reiterates its long-standing recommendation that Congress strengthen HIPAA preemption.</strong></p><h2>CONCLUSION</h2><p>The AHA looks forward to working with Congress to ensure hospitals and health systems have the tools they need to continue to ensure the safety and privacy of their patients and their medical information.</p><div><hr><div id="ftn1"><p><small class="sm"><sup>1</sup> </small><a href="https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/ATA-2025-Unclassified-Report.pdf"><small class="sm">https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/ATA-2025-Unclassified-Report.pdf</small></a></p><div id="ftn2"><p><small class="sm"><sup>2</sup> </small><a href="https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2024_IC3Report.pdf"><small class="sm">https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2024_IC3Report.pdf</small></a></p></div><div id="ftn3"><p><small class="sm"><sup>3</sup> </small><a href="https://usun.usmission.gov/remarks-at-a-un-security-council-briefing-on-ransomware-attacks-against-hospitals-and-other-healthcare-facilities-and-services/"><small class="sm">https://usun.usmission.gov/remarks-at-a-un-security-council-briefing-on-ransomware-attacks-against-hospitals-and-other-healthcare-facilities-and-services/</small></a></p></div><div id="ftn4"><p><small class="sm"><sup>4</sup> </small><a href="https://www.cisa.gov/topics/cyber-threats-and-advisories/nation-state-cyber-actors"><small class="sm">https://www.cisa.gov/topics/cyber-threats-and-advisories/nation-state-cyber-actors</small></a></p></div><div id="ftn5"><p><small class="sm"><sup>5</sup> </small><a href="https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/breach/breach_report.jsf"><small class="sm">https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/breach/breach_report.jsf</small></a><small class="sm"> </small></p><div><div id="ftn1"><p><small class="sm"><sup>6</sup> AHA analysis of RAND Hospital Cost Report data.</small></p></div></div><p><small class="sm"><sup>7</sup> </small><a href="/system/files/media/file/2025/06/aha-comments-on-the-cms-and-astp-onc-request-for-information-re-the-health-technology-ecosystem-letter-6-16-2025.pdf"><small class="sm">/system/files/media/file/2025/06/aha-comments-on-the-cms-and-astp-onc-request-for-information-re-the-health-technology-ecosystem-letter-6-16-2025.pdf</small></a><small class="sm"> </small></p><div><div id="ftn1"><p><small class="sm"><sup>8</sup> </small><a href="/system/files/media/file/2025/05/aha-response-to-omb-deregulation-rfi-letter-5-12-2025.pdf"><small class="sm">/system/files/media/file/2025/05/aha-response-to-omb-deregulation-rfi-letter-5-12-2025.pdf</small></a></p></div><div id="ftn2"><p><small class="sm"><sup>9</sup> </small><a class="ck-anchor" href="/system/files/media/file/2025/05/AHA-Comments-on-FTC-Anticompetitive-Deregulations-RFI.pdf" id="/system/files/media/file/2025/05/AHA-Comments-on-FTC-Anticompetitive-Deregulations-RFI.pd"><small class="sm">/system/files/media/file/2025/05/AHA-Comments-on-FTC-Anticompetitive-Deregulations-RFI.pdf</small></a></p></div><div id="ftn3"><p><small class="sm"><sup>10</sup> </small><a class="ck-anchor" href="/system/files/media/file/2025/05/AHA-Comments-on-DOJ-Anticompetitive-Deregulations-RFI.pdf" id="/system/files/media/file/2025/05/AHA-Comments-on-DOJ-Anticompetitive-Deregulations-RFI.pdf"><small class="sm">/system/files/media/file/2025/05/AHA-Comments-on-DOJ-Anticompetitive-Deregulations-RFI.pdf</small></a><small class="sm"> </small></p></div></div></div></div></div> Wed, 09 Jul 2025 09:00:00 -0500 Rural issues /role-hospitals-texas-health-harris-methodist-hospital-stephenville-helps-rural-community-breathe-easier <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-4"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-07/ths-texashealth-pulmonary-700x532.jpg" alt="Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville. Stock photo of an older man blowing into a tube" width="700" height="532"></p></div><p>At Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville, a new pulmonary rehabilitation program is transforming the way chronic respiratory diseases are treated in rural Erath County. Recognizing the urgent need for localized care, the hospital launched this initiative to help patients manage conditions like COPD, asthma and bronchitis — illnesses that are often more prevalent and underdiagnosed in rural areas.</p><p>“We wanted to offer the community a new program and prevent multiple hospital admissions from patients dealing with chronic breathing issues,” said Brandie Williams, M.D., medical director of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation program. “Our goal was to address the needs of Stephenville residents by meeting them where they live and helping them improve their breathing conditions and lifestyle.”</p><p>The 12-week program, housed within the hospital’s cardiac rehabilitation facility, offers more than just supervised exercise. “Pulmonary rehab will provide them with resourceful tools to manage their chronic conditions,” said Casey Accaputo, B.H.A., RRT, director of the Cardiopulmonary Program. “We offer the necessary nutritional guidance, effective breathing techniques and constant emotional support our patients need and deserve.”</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://www.texashealth.org/newsroom/News-Releases/2025/Texas-Health-Stephenville-Enhances-Respiratory-Care-in-Erath-County">LEARN MORE</a></p><p> </p></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/center/population-health">Improving Health and Wellness</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Wed, 02 Jul 2025 11:18:35 -0500 Rural issues