News

This week’s cyberattack on Change Healthcare, one of the nation’s largest health care technology companies, is yet another unwelcome reminder of the ability of cybercriminals to take advantage of our mission of caring by disrupting daily operations.

Physicians and other practitioners who provided evaluation and management (E/M) services via telehealth during the first nine months of the COVID-19 public health emergency generally complied with Medicare requirements, according to a report released recently by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General.

People enrolled in Medicare Advantage are more likely than those in traditional Medicare to report delays in care due to needed insurance approvals, according to a survey released Feb. 22 by the Commonwealth Fund, with 13% of traditional Medicare enrollees reporting associated delays compared with 22% of MA enrollees.

AHA Feb. 22 voiced support for the Child Suicide Prevention and Lethal Means Safety Act (H.R. 7265), legislation that would provide funding for training programs to help health care workers identify patients at high risk for suicide or self-harm.

A cyberattack Feb. 21 began disrupting systems and services at Change Healthcare, one of the largest health care technology companies in the United States, according to news reports and statements by UnitedHealth Group’s Optum unit, which acquired Change Healthcare in 2022.

Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee Ranking Member Bill Cassidy, R-La., Feb. 21 released a report proposing ways to modernize the existing HIPAA framework and protect health and other data not covered by HIPAA.

Kinneil Coltman, chief community and social impact officer at Advocate Health, discusses the health system’s wide-ranging initiatives to address community needs, including food insecurity, affordable housing and meaningful employment.

The AHA’s Physician Alliance and the Collaborative for Healing and Renewal in Medicine have released a five-step blueprint to help health care leaders build a systemic well-being program to prevent health care worker burnout.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Feb. 20 finalized proposed changes to how states calculate the hospital-specific cap for Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospitals.

The U.S. Department of Justice, United Kingdom and other global partners have seized control of servers used by the LockBit ransomware-as-a-service group, charging five of the group’s affiliates for their participation in a conspiracy to attack over 2,000 victims and demand over $120 million in ransom payments.

AHA Feb. 20 strongly urged the Department of Labor to retain professional nurses and physical therapists on the Schedule A Shortage Occupation List and to consider expanding the list to include medical doctors and pharmacists.

Bryan Smith, recently retired chief of the FBI’s Cyber Criminal Operations Section, discusses the challenge of protecting the nation's caregivers and patients from cyberattacks and how partnerships are crucial in prevailing against cybercriminals.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released financial specifications for the hospital global budget methodology for Medicare fee-for-service patients under the States Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development (AHEAD) model, and a fact sheet explaining how the model interacts with other CMS payment models.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology this week released updated guidance to help HIPAA-covered entities and business associates assess and manage cybersecurity risks to electronic protected health information and comply with the HIPAA security rule.

The FBI Feb. 15 released an alert to help organizations detect and reduce the risk of network compromise from the Warzone Remote Access Trojan, a malware service used by over 7,000 cybercriminals and nation-state actors.

Gain valuable insights from CMS data, indicating that health care providers and facilities won 72% and 79% of payment disputes in the first and second quarters of 2023. Explore the latest trends in payment determination outcomes.

It is important for us to continue to exercise the principles of democracy that Washington and the Founding Fathers fought so hard for and speak up, asking hard questions of candidates in this election year and evaluating their thinking on the issues that affect our field.

AHA Feb. 15 reiterated its support for the Future Advancement of Academic Nursing Act, recently reintroduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill.

Andrea Preisler, AHA’s senior associate director of administrative simplification policy, explains why the recent final rule requiring Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and federally facilitated Marketplace plans to streamline their prior authorization processes should help reduce the burden on hospitals and clinicians and speed needed care for patients.

Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and New Mexico will participate in a new Department of Health and Human Services collaborative that will bring health care providers, experts and community partners together to study and improve postpartum mortality.