News

Leading a rural hospital can feel like you are battling alone, but together with a unified voice we can advocate for what our rural patients need.

We look forward to welcoming hospital and health system leaders to our 2025 AHA Annual Membership Meeting in Washington, D.C., in less than two months.

Hospitals and health systems are urged to nominate candidates as soon as possible for the AHA Next Generation Leaders Fellowship so they can apply by the March 31 deadline.

Cigarette smoking by adults has dropped to its lowest level in 60 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported today.

Microsoft March 5 announced that 550 rural hospitals have joined the Cybersecurity for Rural Hospitals Program, an initiative created last year in partnership with the AHA that includes free and heavily discounted cybersecurity services.

In recent days, the AHA and the FBI have received multiple reports of hospitals and health systems receiving data extortion letters delivered through the U.S. Postal Service and originating domestically. The AHA has engaged with recipient organizations and the FBI on this issue.

Mindy Estes, M.D., former CEO of Saint Luke's Health System and former AHA board chair, and Roxanna Gapstur, R.N., CEO of WellSpan Health, discuss the strategies that enabled WellSpan to maintain high-quality care during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, solutions for nursing retention and how WellSpan is addressing critical community health challenges.

The Food and Drug Administration March 5 announced that Baxter Healthcare Corporation recalled its Spectrum infusion pumps due to the potential for missing motor mounting screws.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention March 4 announced it sent agency experts to Texas to assist local officials in responding to the state’s measles outbreak.

More than 150 hospital and health system leaders March 4 participated in an AHA Advocacy Day briefing in Washington, D.C., to get the latest updates on key issues before meeting with lawmakers and their staff on Capitol Hill.

The AHA voiced support for the Assistance for Rural Community Hospitals Act, legislation reintroduced March 3 by Reps. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., and Terri Sewell, D-Ala., that would extend the Medicare-dependent hospital and low-volume adjustment programs for five years each. 

The AHA Feb.

The AHA Feb. 28 voiced support for the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's proposal to reduce beneficiary cost-sharing at critical access hospitals while holding those hospitals harmless.

The Department of Health and Human Services Feb. 28 announced that it is rescinding its Nixon-era policy on inviting public participation when making rules and regulations related to public property, loans, grants, benefits or contracts.

The AHA Feb. 28 filed a friend-of-the-court brief (https://www.aha.org/amicus-brief/2025-02-28-aha-others-file-amicus-brief-opposing-jj-340b-rebate-model) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, urging the court to uphold the Health Resources and Services Administration’s decision to reject Johnson & Johnson’s proposed 340B rebate model in a lawsuit brought by J&J to bar the agency from doing so.

In this conversation, Dave Newman, M.D., vice president and chief medical officer for virtual care at Sanford Health, discusses how innovative virtual care models and artificial intelligence-powered solutions are breaking down barriers, improving patient outcomes and enhancing provider efficiency.

A new fact sheet by the AHA explains why Congress should extend enhanced premium tax credits set to expire at the end of 2025, as not extending them would negatively impact patients in rural areas.

A case study by the AHA's Community Health Improvement network explains how Children’s Mercy Kansas City created a new model to coordinate its community health efforts and make more progress at a faster rate.

With March kicking off tomorrow, we’re approaching March Madness when college basketball teams across the country compete in the annual tournament that often is full of twists, turns and surprises.

A study published Feb. 26 by JAMA Psychiatry found that female physicians died by suicide at more than 1.5 times the rate of female nonphysicians from 2017-2021.