HHS Updates Covid-19 Reporting Guidance for Hospitals, Labs, and Acute-Care Facilities
In guidance released this week, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) said hospitals, hospital laboratories, and acute-care facilities will be required to include incidences of patients with influenza in their Covid-19 data reporting data as of Dec. 18.
The new influenza fields were added as optional elements to the Covid-19 data reporting set in October and will be mandatory starting next week.
In addition, the new reporting requirements include weekly reporting on inventory and use of Covid-19 therapeutic medications.
Please note the relevant new provisions highlighted in this week’s
guidance, which is also available on NABH’s Covid-19 resources
webpage.
CMS Hospital Price Transparency Final Rule Presentation Now Available
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has provided
slides from the agency’s Dec. 8 webinar about the hospital price transparency final rule.
Beginning Jan. 1, all U.S. hospitals will be required to provide transparent and accessible pricing information online about the items and services they provide. According to CMS, hospitals will be required to do this in two ways: first as a comprehensive, machine-readable file that notes all items and services, and second as a display of shoppable services in a consumer-friendly format.
The webinar identified who must comply with the rule, defined hospital “standard charges,” and outlined what items and services must be included.
Biden Chooses Becerra, Murthy, and Walensky for Top Federal Healthcare Posts
President-elect Joseph Biden has selected California Attorney General
Xavier Becerra as his nominee to lead HHS and internist Vivek Murthy, M.D. to reprise his earlier role as U.S. surgeon general.
Becerra, who represented California in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2017, was chairman of the House Democratic Caucus from 2013 to 2017 and served on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. He earned both his bachelor and law degrees from Stanford. If confirmed, Becerra would be the first Latino to lead HHS.
A fierce champion of the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Becerra is leading 20 states and Washington, D.C. to protect the seminal 2010 healthcare law from being dismantled. Becerra would oversee the department at a critical time during the Covid-19 pandemic, as caseloads surge and a massive vaccination effort is set to launch soon.
Murthy served as the nation’s 19th U.S. surgeon general during the Obama administration from December 2014 until January 2017. Murthy completed his internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and also led and managed medical teams as a faculty member.
Biden also named
Rochelle Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Walensky also serves as professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and is an expert on AIDS and HIV.
Well Being Trust and IHI Publish Resources to Help Providers and Communities Address Mental Health During Pandemic
Well Being Trust and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) have released two resources to help healthcare providers, payors, and community partners implement strategies to help save lives from overdose and suicide, and care for front-line health workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
A Guide for Health Systems to Save Lives from “Deaths of Despair” and Improve Community Well-Being is a 37-page resource that explores the role of healthcare systems in improving health and well-being and proposes an approach that identifies who the population is, how to implement methods, and what interventions to use in communities.
The shorter of the two resources,
A Guide to Promoting Health Care Workforce Well Being During and After the Covid-19 Pandemic defines key concepts, such as “moral injury,” “psychological first-aid,” and “grief leadership,” and then offers applicable steps that healthcare organizations can take to build on existing support systems.
SAMHSA Releases Treatment Guide on Youth Suicide
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released
Treatment for Suicidal Ideation, Self-harm, and Suicide Attempts Among Youth, a 57- page guide that provides interventions to treat suicidal ideation, self-harm, and suicide attempts among youth.
Elinore McCance-Katz, M.D., Ph.D., assistant secretary for mental health and substance use, noted in a foreword that the guide is part of SAMHSA’s response to the
21st Century Cures Act’s requirement to disseminate information on evidence-based practices and service delivery models. McCance-Katz also wrote that suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth in the United States. The suicide rate for youth aged 10 to 24 increased 56% to 10.6 per 100,000 people in 2017 from 6.8 per 100,000 people in 2007.
Reminder: NABH 2021 Board Election Ballots Due Thursday, Dec. 31
NABH this week e-mailed system members the NABH Board of Trustees candidate profiles and a ballot to elect new members to the 2021 Board.
If you have not done so, please vote for the open Board Chair-Elect position and three available Board seats; sign the ballot (it is not valid without a signature); and return it to NABH. You can do this by scanning your completed ballot and e-mailing it
nabh@nabh.org, or faxing it to 202-783-6041.
NABH must receive all ballots no later than
Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020. New Board members and the Board Chair-elect will take office in January 2021.
Save the Date: NABH 2021 Annual Meeting
NABH will host its 2021 Annual Meeting from Wednesday, Oct. 6 – Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC.
The association re-scheduled for this later date in 2021 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We hope you can join us!
After 2021, NABH will host its subsequent Annual Meetings in June. Please save the date for these future NABH Annual Meetings:
We look forward to seeing you in Washington next year!
Fact of the Week
A new
Morning Consult poll found that 36% of Americans reported their mental health has suffered during the Covid-19 global pandemic, while 19% said their physical health has worsened.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.