News

A report on obstetric services in hospitals by the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center found that between 2010 and 2024, 718 hospitals nationwide lost obstetric services due to obstetric unit or hospital closure.

The Department of Health and Human Services Sept. 4 announced that it awarded $11.2 million in grants to 15 recipients across 14 states to develop new physician residency programs in rural and tribal communities.

Boston Scientific announced Sept. 8 that the network disruption to its remote monitoring services following an Aug. 25 cyber incident has been resolved.

The AHA Aug. 31 submitted comments urging the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Health Care Affordability and Mitigation Working Group to take a more comprehensive approach to evaluating healthcare affordability policies in a series of issue briefs being developed as a resource for state regulators and policymakers.

The House voted Sept. 1 on a continuing resolution (H.R. 6500) to fund the federal government through Dec. 11. The measure passed on a 370-48 bipartisan vote; the Senate passed its version by a vote of 90-6 on Aug. 8.

The Trump administration announced Aug. 31 agreements with nine additional pharmaceutical manufacturers aimed at lowering prescription drug prices through a most-favored-nation pricing model, which ties U.S. drug costs to the lowest prices paid by other developed countries.

The AHA Aug. 31 joined a coalition led by LeadingAge and other national healthcare organizations in submitting comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Medicare provider enrollment provisions of the calendar year 2027 home health prospective payment system proposed rule. 

AHA, CMS webinar explores how hospital and health system leaders can prepare for Medicare Advantage’s new electronic prior authorization mandate, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2027.

The Food and Drug Administration has identified a Class I recall of certain convenience kits by AVID Medical that contain recalled Medline Namic Angiographic Star Off Handle Manifolds.

The AHA Aug. 28 shared concerns with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regarding the calendar year 2027 hospital outpatient prospective payment system and ambulatory surgical center payment system proposed rule, explaining why the proposed net payment update of 2.4% is not adequate given the financial challenges hospitals and health systems face.

The AHA provided comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Aug. 28 on its calendar year 2027 home health prospective payment system proposed rule, focusing on two specific concerns.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ six-month moratorium on the enrollment of new durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supply companies in Medicare expired Aug. 27.

The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy’s Rural Health Redesign Center will host a webinar on Sept. 24 at 2 p.m. ET, where hospital CEOs will discuss the process of converting to a rural emergency hospital designation.

Joy A.

The Food and Drug Administration has issued an early alert for all automated Impella controllers by Abiomed following an issue that has caused three deaths and 37 serious injuries as of Aug. 17.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released a fact sheet and FAQs on the 340B Part D claims data repository that will go live Oct. 1.

The AHA has released a fact sheet explaining how artificial intelligence tools help alleviate administrative burden for providers, particularly in areas such as billing, coding and documentation.

The FBI and the Department of Justice Aug. 26 announced the disruption of a China-linked hacking group known as QTFY. The group, which also identifies as QT and QTCYBER, has targeted hospitals and health systems, as well as government services and facilities, communications, energy, information technology, and water and wastewater systems.

Boston Scientific, a large supplier of medical devices, said in an Aug. 26 statement posted on its website that on Aug. 25 it “identified a cybersecurity incident affecting certain information technology systems that resulted in a network outage and disruption to the company’s operations.”

There are now 17,180 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Aug. 25.