News

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response urged the health care and public health sector to patch on-premises Microsoft Exchange Server vulnerabilities announced last week, noting that additional criminal and state actors have been observed trying to compromise the critical infrastructure by exploiting these vulnerabilities.

The National Academy of Medicine has named an international committee to assess how COVID-19 vaccine development and other policies could facilitate global efforts to prepare for seasonal flu and a flu pandemic.

Regulators should prohibit health insurers from preventing hospitals and physicians in their networks from directly acquiring and storing drugs used in patient care, according to a white paper released today by AHA.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized the first molecular test to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a nasal swab at home without a prescription. Cue Health expects by summer to daily produce more than 100,000 of the tests, authorized for use in patients age 2 and older.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released interim guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals’ social practices. CDC said that those who are fully vaccinated — whether the two doses required by the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, or the single Johnson & Johnson dose — may eschew masks or physical distancing when gathering with other fully vaccinated individuals in small groups in their homes.

In the 55 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke those words, our nation has made some progress to ensure all individuals have an equal opportunity to reach their healthiest life — but we still have a long way to go.

The AHA invites hospitals and health systems to participate in the Better Maternal Outcomes Improvement Sprint, a free, six-week program focused on the safe reduction of primary cesarean births, also known as NTSV cesarean births.

Hospitals and health systems lost 2,200 jobs in February, as U.S. jobs overall increased by 379,000, according to preliminary data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A recent report from RAND “misses the mark on solutions to the cost of health care and draws its conclusions from the same recycled and incomplete studies,” writes AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission discussed a draft recommendation that Congress require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to transition to an indirect medical education adjustment that considers both inpatient and outpatient care.

Mask mandates last year were associated with declining growth in daily COVID-19 cases and deaths within 20 days, while on-premises restaurant dining was associated with rising cases after 40 days and rising death rates after 60 days, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will host a March 11 call for clinicians on using telehealth to augment COVID-19 vaccine planning and monitoring.

1.5 million people. That’s the approximate number of people that hospitals and health systems have treated for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. To put that in perspective, that would mean filling Chicago’s Soldier Field to capacity 24 times.

A research letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine looks at delayed injection-site skin reactions to the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine four to 11 days after 12 people received the first dose.

More than 206,000 people selected a 2021 health plan through the federally facilitated marketplace Feb. 15-28, the first two weeks of a special enrollment period created in response to the COVID-19 emergency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reports.

Kearny County Hospital in Lakin, Kansas, launched the Pioneer Baby program with KU School of Medicine-Wichita in 2015 to improve pregnancy and birth outcomes.

The AHA voiced support for Vivek Murthy, M.D., to serve as United States surgeon general for a second time.

Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Todd Young, R-Ind., Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., introduced the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, AHA-supported legislation that aims to prevent suicide, burnout and behavioral health disorders among health care professionals. Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., also introduced the legislation in the House of Representatives. 

Cyber attackers are using Microsoft Exchange Server vulnerabilities to access Exchange server email accounts on an organization’s premises and install malware to facilitate long-term access to victim environments, the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center announced.

The Senate Finance Committee voted 14-14 along party lines on President Biden’s nomination of Xavier Becerra to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services.