Newswire Archives
A new analysis by Kaufman, Hall & Associates LLC highlights COVID-19’s impact on hospitals’ and health systems’ financial health. According to the report, without further government support, hospitals’ margins could sink to minus 7% in the second half of 2020, with half of all hospitals operating in the red.
The analysis can be obtained at https://www.aha.org/system/files/media/file/2020/07/KH-COVID-Hospital-Financial-Health_FINAL.pdf.
ASAHP joined nearly 100 organizations in urging the Administration to reverse its decision to bypass the CDC as a recipient in the collection and analysis of COVID-19 patient data.
The letter may be accessed here.
Today the House Appropriations Committee announced that an omnibus FY 21 spending package will be considered on the House floor next week. The legislative package is made up of seven FY 21 spending bills including the Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education bill.
The legislation may be found here. A division-by-division summary may be found here. The Committee press release may be found here.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has made apparent, the primary care system in the U.S. often fails to meet the full range of women’s health care needs. A two-part series from the Commonwealth Fund presents a vision for achieving the kind of primary care that women in America want and need.
The first report can be obtained at https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2020/jul/transforming-primary-health-care-women-part-1-framework?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Delivery%20System%20Reform and the second report at https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2020/jul/transforming-primary-health-care-women-part-2-path-forward?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Delivery%20System%20Reform.
Respondents overwhelmingly support hospitals and further aid as front-line health care providers fight to defeat COVID-19, regardless of party affiliation, according to a poll released today by the Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care.
Results can be obtained at https://www.aha.org/system/files/media/file/2020/07/cpah-national-survey-summary-key-findings.pdf.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues in the U.S., research has shown that racial and ethnic minorities bear a disproportionate burden of illness and death. An article published ahead of print in the journal Health Affairs on June 14 involves the use of pre-pandemic data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, to explore potential explanations.
The article can be obtained at https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/pdf/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00897.
Healthcare students stay busy and come in contact with many different people through classes, clinicals and skill labs, not to mention jobs, family and social obligations. But their hard work, drive and passion in these many different areas put them at high risk for exposure to COVID-19. How can you help them return to campus and clinicals safely and responsibly?
Please join CastleBranch on Wednesday, July 29 at 2:00pm EST for a live webinar, “Keeping Students Safe in the age of COVID-19.” Experts will discuss best practices to help keep your healthcare students safe from COVID-19.
Host: Katie Giacalone, Sr. Manager of Strategic Partnerships
Katie Giacalone is the Senior Manager of Strategic Partnerships at CastleBranch. She has fifteen years of experience with the company in a variety of roles that have allowed her to build and grow key relationships and partnerships both inside and outside the organization. A University of Rhode Island graduate in Business Administration, Katie has served in a variety of marketing and sales roles at CastleBranch including leading a team of sales executives as Director of Sales.
Guest: Pat Dunty, VP, Executive Team, Best Practice Liaison
Pat Dunty is the Vice President and Best Practice Liaison for CastleBranch and a vital member of the executive team at CastleBranch. He has been a part of CastleBranch for 5 years and held numerous positions which have given Pat a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by our clients. His experiences have allowed him to excel at identifying new and innovative products that help meet our client’s needs. Most recently, Pat has worked side by side with our Infectious Disease Council dedicated to helping keep healthcare students safe nationwide.
Register here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1410590263782747151
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security today rescinded its recent policy directive requiring that international students must take at least some in-person classes in order to remain in the U.S. ASAHP is pleased with today’s decision, as the directive would have limited the flexibility for our institutions, and would have been detrimental to the students, health professions education, research, and public health efforts. As part of the Federation of Associations of Schools of the Health Professions (FASHP), ASAHP joined numerous other associations in sending a letter to the Department of Homeland Security voicing opposition to the earlier guidance.
More details may be found here. The previous newswire post on this issue and the joint letter to DHS may be accessed here.
On Monday, the House Committee on Appropriations approved the FY 2021 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies funding bill on party line vote of 30-22, with Democrats voting in favor. The bill may be taken up on the House floor later this month.
Our previous newswire articles on this bill may be found here and here. The House Appropriations Committee press release may be found here.
ASAHP joined many other organizations in a joint letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, urging renewal of the current public health emergency declaration for at least an additional 90 days before it expires on July 25. Such a declaration is needed to adequately deploy necessary resources and authorities.
The letter may be accessed here.
As part of the Federation of Associations of Schools of the Health Professions (FASHP), ASAHP joined numerous other associations in sending a letter to the Department of Homeland Security voicing opposition to guidance released by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that prohibits international students from returning to or remaining in the US if the institutions they attend adopt online-only instruction models amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The ICE guidance limits the flexibility needed for our institutions, and would be detrimental to the students, health professions education, research, and public health efforts. The associations recommend that ICE should allow students with valid visas the opportunity to continue receiving their education in the manner determined by their school to be the safest and most effective for them and their classmates.
The letter may be accessed here.
Today the U.S. House of Representative’s Appropriations Committee holds a full committee markup of its FY 2021 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies funding bill. The bill advanced in Subcommittee along party lines last week. The bill includes $512.5 million ($38 million above the FY 2020 enacted level) for Title VII Health Professions programs and nearly $270 million for Title VIII nursing programs. $51.5 million is included for Scholarship for Disadvantaged Students, $42.7 million for geriatric programs, $38.9 million for mental and behavioral health, $127 million for behavioral health workforce education and training, and $15 million is included for the Health Careers Opportunity Program.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlights gaps in Medicare mental health coverage as well as opportunities for improvement. A report from the Commonwealth Fund discusses how policies to expand coverage of telemental health should be studied rigorously and potentially made permanent as a strategy to increase access to mental health services by beneficiaries.
The report can be obtained at https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/jul/medicare-mental-health-coverage-covid-19-gaps-opportunities?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Medicare.
On Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. House of Representative’s Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies advanced their FY 2021 spending bill on a 9-6 party line vote. The Democratic bill includes $94.6 billion for HHS, an increase of $1.5 billion above the FY 2020 enacted level. The bill includes $7.2 billion for HRSA, an increase of $157 million above the FY 2020 enacted level. HRSA’s Bureau of Health Professions programs would receive $1.2 billion, an increase of $48 million above the FY 2020 enacted level. NIH would receive $47 billion. The bill also includes $73.5 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Education, an increase of $716 million above the FY 2020 enacted level. The bill includes $2.6 billion for higher education programs and $24.6 billion for Federal student aid programs, including an increase to the maximum Pell Grant. A full committee markup is scheduled for Monday afternoon and amendments will be considered then.
The bill may be accessed here.
The Appropriations Committee Press Release and Bill Summary may be accessed here.
The link to Monday afternoon’s markup may be accessed here.
The American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT)’s National Consortium of Clinical Educators (NCCE) has released additional guidance for resuming physical therapy clinical education. The guidance includes
strategies for maximizing capacity by reassessing the curriculum to ensure accreditation standards are met in an efficient manner,
using “innovative” scheduling and prioritization for clinical education placements, and
sharing resources across academic programs and clinical sites.
Read more here.
Inside Higher Education explores how clinical education has had to adapt from clinical site closures to slowly allowing students to return, as a result of the pandemic. Julie O’Sullivan Maillet, chair of ASAHP’s Clinical Education Task Force (CETF), along with two CETF members Dr. Mari Knettle (Cleveland Clinic) and Dr. Peter Hu (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center) provided insight on how their respective educational institutions, healthcare institutions, and accrediting bodies have responded and challenges they have faced.
ASAHP’s CETF has held several webinars on clinical education during the pandemic. All webinar recordings are available here, and we invite members to engage in our “Clinical Education Discussion Forum” online community. To join, please contact Kristen Truong at kristen@asahp.org.
Read the full article here.
A new Department of Homeland Security rule prohibits international students from returning to or remaining in the United States if their colleges adopt an online-only instruction model for the fall semester.
More information can be obtained at https://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/bcm2007-01.pdf.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the health care field added 358,000 jobs in June, increasing 2.3% to a seasonally adjusted 15.6 million. Office-based providers, such as physicians and dentists, continued to account for much of the increase while nursing and residential care facilities continued to lose jobs.
The report can be obtained at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t17.htm.
Today, ASAHP joined over 250 organizations in a letter sent to Congressional leadership in support of increased funding for public health infrastructure. The groups recommend $4.5 billion in additional annual funding for CDC, state, local, tribal and territorial core public health infrastructure to pay for such essential activities
The letter may be accessed here.
ASAHP joined with a coalition of organizations led by the National Association of County and City Health Officials in sending letters last week to Congressional leadership in the U.S. House and Senate. The House letter outlines the undersigned organizations’ strong support of the Public Health Loan Repayment Program included in the HEROES Act and urges Congress to create and fund this program as part of the next COVID-19 package. The Senate letter outlines the organizations’ strong support of the Strengthening the Public Health Workforce Act, and urges Congress to include that bill as part of the next COVID-19 package and provide funding to implement it.
The House letter may be accessed here and the Senate letter may be accessed here.
