News

The AHA, in partnership with Press Ganey, Jan. 15 released the fourth in a series of workbooks leaders can use to understand and overcome challenges in engaging their workforce. This workbook guides users through the fundamentals of leadership visibility, common obstacles and the tools needed to enhance leader visibility within your organization.

UnitedHealth Group announced Jan. 14 that it launched a six-month pilot program to reduce Medicare Advantage payment processing times by half for rural hospitals in four states.

U.S. health care spending reached $5.3 trillion in 2024 — growing 7.2% from 2023 — the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported Jan. 14 in Health Affairs.

The AHA Jan. 14 expressed support for the Rural Hospital Cybersecurity Enhancement Act (S. 2169), legislation that would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to create a comprehensive workforce strategy to train cybersecurity professionals and develop partnerships to expand the cybersecurity workforce in rural hospitals.

Jesse Tamplen, vice president of care coordination at John Muir Health in San Francisco, and Jamie Elmasu, director of community health improvement at John Muir Health, explain how community health assessments, data-driven planning and nonprofit partnerships are expanding access to patients who need it most.

The AHA, in partnership with the Medical University of South Carolina’s National Mass Violence Center, Jan. 13 released a new guide for hospital and health care leaders on how to prepare for, respond, mitigate and recover from mass violence incidents.

The five-year survival rate for all cancers in the U.S. has reached 70% for the first time, according to a report published Jan. 13 by the American Cancer Society.

A study released Jan. 12 by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology analyzed the current state of heart health in the U.S., highlighting the burden of disease, quality of care and mortality trends of risk factors and conditions that can lead to heart disease.

As AHA chair, Dr. Boom acknowledges the challenges and opportunities ahead. He is optimistic about working with members to continue finding solutions and transforming the practice and delivery of medicine, providing “better care for humankind and for people in the United States.”

A Senate Judiciary Committee report released Jan. 12 found that UnitedHealth Group used “aggressive strategies” to maximize its Medicare Advantage risk-adjustment scores and collect higher payments from diagnoses of MA enrollees.

Tina Eden, R.N., CEO of Virginia Gay Hospital, and Jacinda Bunch, Ph.D., R.N., assistant professor at the Iowa College of Nursing and senior advisor to Simulation in Motion-Iowa, or SIM-IA, dive into how this mobile clinical education program is delivering high-impact simulation training directly to rural hospitals and EMS teams.

Several health care groups, including the AHA, Jan.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released a request for information seeking input on replacing its Medicare claims processing system with a real-time, cloud-based platform.

The FBI Jan.

The House Jan.

The AHA Jan. 9 urged the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission to consider, during its next meeting Jan. 15-16, higher payment updates for the inpatient and outpatient prospective payment systems than those discussed in December and to examine Medicare Advantage’s role in access to care and provider financial stability.

A study published Jan. 7 by the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center examined the availability of hospital-based obstetric services in the U.S. by county from 2010-2023. It found 293 counties (8.6%) nationwide lost all hospital-based obstetric services during that period.

An AHA blog published Jan. 8 highlights an EY analysis prepared for the AHA on the ways nonprofit hospitals and health systems contribute to their communities and deliver community benefits, as reported in the IRS Schedule H, that far outweigh the value of their tax exemption. 

Congress returned to Washington this week with a full plate of issues to contend with in the short term as it defines its legislative agenda for the remainder of 2026.

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing (https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/chairmen-guthrie-and-griffith-announce-legislative-hearing-on-improving-medicare-payment-policies-for-seniors) Jan. 8 to discuss legislation on Medicare payment policies for seniors, including the AHA-supported Reforming and Enhancing Sustainable Updates to Laboratory Testing Services Act (H.R. 5269) (https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5269).