News

All clinicians should get vaccinated against COVID-19, encourage their staff and patients to get vaccinated, and recommend immunocompromised patients continue all prevention measures after vaccination, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday, citing an urgent need to increase COVID-19 vaccination coverage to prevent outbreaks.

The AHA, America’s Essential Hospitals, Association of American Medical Colleges, Catholic Health Association of the United States, and Children’s Hospital Association released a joint statement strongly urging all health care personnel to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect themselves, their patients and peers.

By integrating behavioral health into physical care and tapping into community partnerships, hospitals and health systems can develop culturally competent clinical solutions to better serve historically underrepresented individuals, writes Manish Sapra, M.D., executive director of the behavioral health service line at New York-based Northwell Health.

Learn how hospital and health system leaders such as Jonathan Perlin, M.D., president of clinical operations and chief medical officer at HCA Healthcare, are using patient surveillance technologies, including those based on artificial intelligence, to help predict onset of health care-associated infections or other causes of patient deterioration and improve care.

Rural health clinics and other qualified community-based outpatient care centers can apply for American Rescue Plan Act funding to expand the number of full-time equivalent resident positions and create new primary care residency programs in rural and underserved communities through the Teaching Health Center Program, the Health Resources and Services Administration announced.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adjusted its guidance for fully vaccinated individuals, urging indoor masking in states that are labeled as “high” or “substantial” in their number of cases, including schools, where all in attendance should wear masks.

The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded 127 organizations a total of $121 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to work with regional and local partners, including health care providers, to build vaccine confidence and bolster vaccination in underserved communities.

U.S. hospitals and health systems face growing financial pressure from cyberattacks, credit rating agency Fitch Ratings reported.  

Registration is now open for AHA’s inaugural Advancing Care Conference, a new, highly interactive conference experience aimed at providing interprofessional teams — from front-line staff to leaders — with the best and next practices in health care team performance, well-being, quality and outcomes and education.

University of Florida Health Jacksonville CEO and Dean Leon Haley Jr., M.D., who served on the AHA Committee on Clinical Leadership, died unexpectedly this weekend, the health system announced Saturday.

Yale New Haven Health will receive the 2021 AHA Quest for Quality Prize this week at AHA’s annual Leadership Summit for its deep commitment to improving the health of its patients and communities.

The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization to Becton, Dickinson and Company for its sodium citrate blood specimen collection tubes for coagulation testing by authorized laboratories for COVID-19 and other patients.

Some individuals with “long COVID” may have a disability under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and other civil rights laws that entitles them to protection from discrimination, the departments of Health and Human Services and Justice said in guidance released.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency released an advisory on reimbursable communications and outreach expenses for nonprofit medical facilities and state and local governments participating in activities to increase COVID-19 vaccination and vaccine confidence through its Public Assistance Program

The AHA told Senate leaders it strongly opposed “any attempt to take away previously-appropriated funding for hospitals and health systems, physicians, nurses and other health care providers providing heroic care during a global pandemic,” and said it would be short-sighted to rescind COVID-19 Provider Relief Funding while COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are surging again throughout the nation.

AHA’s Institute for Diversity and Health Equity has been working for more than 25 years to advance health equity, diversity and inclusion by supporting hospitals, health systems, patients and communities. While the health care field has made some progress, we still have a long way to go. 

The Missouri Supreme Court unanimously overturned a lower court ruling that a voter-approved constitutional amendment to expand the state’s Medicaid program was unconstitutional.

The National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center July 28 at 9:30 a.m. ET will host a virtual pilot of its new training program designed to equip providers with information and resources to better serve survivors of human trafficking with substance use and/or co-occurring disorders.

The AHA’s American Organization of Nursing Leadership affiliate, the American Nurses Association, and Johnson & Johnson released a report examining nurse-led innovations that improved patient care and outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic and opportunities to continue that progress going forward.

Eligible nonprofit organizations can apply through July 26 for a portion of $10 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding for workplace infectious disease training, including for COVID-19, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a press release.