News

Learn how hospital and health system leaders such as Mohiedean Ghofrani, M.D., system medical director for laboratory services, PeaceHealth, are implementing laboratory stewardship programs to track patterns in test ordering compared to accepted guidelines to help identify gaps in care.

The AHA last week encouraged the Bureau of Land Management to work with the Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Food and Drug Administration to assist in taking steps to protect access to helium prior to executing the final sale of the Federal Helium Reserve near Amarillo, Texas.

New AHA-supported legislation was introduced today by Reps. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., and Terri Sewell, D-Ala., to extend the Medicare-dependent hospital program and low-volume hospital adjustment, which both serve as critical lifelines for rural hospitals. The Assistance for Rural Community Hospitals (ARCH) Act would extend each for five years. In its letter of support to the sponsors of the ARCH Act, AHA highlighted rural hospitals’ important roles in the communities they serve and the bill’s ability to support these efforts.

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday provided an update on the HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device system.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has finalized an indefinite delay in the start date of its radiation oncology model, according to a final rule published yesterday.

AHA, in comments today to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, voiced support for the agency’s new rural emergency hospital designation, particularly its potential value in the area of maternal health. “It is undeniable that access to maternal and child care services is lacking in certain areas of the country, including many rural communities,” AHA wrote.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday released a CMCS Informational Bulletin to remind states of existing federal guidance related to reimbursement of Ground Emergency Medical Transportation services in Medicaid.

The deadline to comment on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposed rule on Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-certified labs was extended through Sept. 26, according to the Federal Register.

A federal judge in Idaho Aug. 24 preliminarily enjoined an Idaho law in circumstances where it would conflict with the requirements of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. The court concluded that the Idaho law lacks “a cutout for EMTALA-required care,” and thus “would inject tremendous uncertainty into precisely what care is required (and permitted) for pregnant patients who present in Medicare-funded emergency rooms with emergency medical conditions.”

Former AHA Chair and Distinguished Service Award recipient Sister Mary Roch Rocklage passed away yesterday. She was 87. Rocklage was considered the “modern day foundress” of the Mercy health care system, serving the ministry for 65 years, including as Mercy’s first president and CEO and later its board chair.