On May 16, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a request for information on ways to lower drug prices and reduce out-of-pocket costs for consumers.

While the AHA appreciates the Administration's focus on the issue of unsustainable drug prices, which threaten patient access to care, the focus on the 340B program as part of a plan to lower drug prices is misplaced. A number of the questions raised by HHS suggest that the 340B program might contribute to higher drug prices. However, it is drug manufacturers,...

Yesterday, the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and America’s Essential Hospitals filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to prevent significant Medicare payment cuts for hospitals that participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program. The three hospital associations are joined in the suit by hospital plaintiffs: Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, in Brewer, Maine; Henry Ford Health System, in Detroit; and Park Ridge Health, in Hendersonville, North Carolina, part of Adventist Health System.

For 25 years, the 340B program has enabled hospitals and other organizations that care for many low-income and uninsured patients to purchase certain outpatient drugs from pharmaceutical manufacturers at discounted prices. The program allows participating hospitals to use the savings from the discounts to provide an expanded range of comprehensive health...

The National Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center (NH-ISAC) will present a complimentary workshop on August 14 in Erlanger hosted by St. Elizabeth Healthcare. Participants can network with other health care professionals and discuss basic best practices in cybersecurity.

NH-ISAC is providing free educational programs through grants from Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC,) the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

View the flier for agenda details and register online to reserve your seat.

Please send additional inquiries to contact@nhisac.org.

From AHA: A new and evolving cyberattack using a variant of Ransomware has hit businesses in Ukraine, India, France, Russia and Spain. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) informed AHA that some U.S. hospitals and a pharmaceutical company also have been attacked. At this time, there is no definitive assessment about the source of the cyberattack. HHS is advising vigilance and following general cyber hygiene practices, such as ensuring that all your systems’ patches and anti-virus definitions are up to date. AHA is closely monitoring the situation and will update members as more information becomes available.

For more on the developing attack, make sure to check US-CERT, ...

From AHA: A new and evolving cyberattack using a variant of Ransomware has hit businesses in Ukraine, India, France, Russia and Spain. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) informed AHA that some U.S. hospitals and a pharmaceutical company also have been attacked. At this time, there is no definitive assessment about the source of the cyberattack. HHS is advising vigilance and following general cyber hygiene practices, such as ensuring that all your systems’ patches and anti-virus definitions are up to date. AHA is closely monitoring the situation and will update members as more information becomes available.

For more on the developing attack, make sure to check US-CERT, ...

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is collaborating with the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), which will merge with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in May, to celebrate Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 12-18) through a series of activities recognizing the importance of keeping patients safe in all health care settings:

An ...

Recently, the Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS OIG) released its mid-year update to its fiscal year (FY) 2016 work plan. New initiatives are indicated in the following list of Medicaid-related work:

Hospitals are invited to participate in a stakeholder call with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to discuss an important update as it relates to the Affordable Care Act. The speaker will be Jocelyn Samuels, director of the Office for Civil Rights. There will also be the opportunity for questions and answers.

CALL DETAILS
Thursday, September 3
2:15 p.m. (ET)

Thirty-three Kentucky hospitals were recently recognized by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for their outstanding voluntary efforts to promote organ donation in the third year of the Workplace Partnership for Life Hospital Organ Donation Campaign. Hospitals were awarded gold, silver or bronze recognition based on the number of promotion activities implemented. The campaign also recognized the Kentucky Hospital Association and Donate Life Kentucky for partnering with hospitals and transplant centers in the national campaign.

The Kentucky hospitals recognized were:

Baptist Health Corbin

Baptist Health Louisville

Baptist Health Madisonville

Baptist Health Richmond

Baptist Hospital Lexington

Clark Regional Medical Center

Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center

Fleming County Hospital

Frankfort Regional Medical Center

Georgetown Community Hospital

Hardin Memorial Health

Harrison Memorial Hospital...

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell has announced the availability of $100 million from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to support an estimated 150 new health center sites across the country in 2015. New health center sites will increase access to comprehensive, affordable, high quality primary health care services in the communities that need it most.

More information on this funding opportunity is available at http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/apply/assistance/nap/.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is releasing new data and launching new initiatives at the annual Health Datapalooza conference in Washington, D.C.

On June 2, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its first annual update to the Medicare hospital charge data, or information comparing the average amount a hospital bills for services that may be provided in connection with a similar inpatient stay or outpatient visit. CMS is also releasing a suite of other data products and tools aimed to increase transparency about Medicare payments. The data on CMS’s website now includes inpatient and outpatient hospital charge data for 2012, and new interactive dashboards for the CMS Chronic Conditions Data Warehouse and geographic variation data. Also, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched a new open data initiative. Before the end of the conference, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) will announce the winners of two data...

On May 7, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced an overall nine percent decrease in hospital acquired conditions (HACs) nationally during 2011-2012. HACs are undesirable situations or conditions for patients that arose during a hospital stay.

HHS reported that national reductions in adverse drug events, falls, infections and other forms of hospital-induced harm are estimated to have prevented nearly 15,000 deaths in hospitals, avoided 560,000 patient injuries and saved approximately $4 billion in health spending over the same period.

Kentucky hospitals are cheering today’s announcement because they played an integral role in improving many of the quality indicators on which HHS focused. Since 2012, the Kentucky Hospital Association has led a statewide initiative to reduce preventable readmissions and HACs in Kentucky hospitals. This effort, known as the Kentucky Hospital Engagement Network (K-HEN), was conducted in partnership with the American Hospital Association and...