Editor's Note The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on October 3 amended the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act declaration for smallpox medical countermeasures to expand the categories of providers authorized to administer vaccines and therapeutics against smallpox, monkeypox, and other orthopoxviruses during the declared emergency, Healthcare…

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Editor's Note  On August 3, as directed by President Joe Biden in a briefing room release in April 2022, when he tasked the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) “to coordinate the federal response to the long-term health effects of COVID-19,” as reported by OR Manager, HHS released a national…

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Editor's Note On Wednesday August 10, the Department of Health and Human Services released the Environmental Justice Index (EJI), a tool used to identify health risks from pollution and other environmental hazards, the American Hospital Association July 10 reports. The EJI is the first national, geographic-driven tool utilized to measure…

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Editor's Note The US Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) released a new brief offering tips on how to protect healthcare organizations from basic web application attacks, the American Hospital Association (AHA) July 26 reports. These attacks target patient portals and expose patient…

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Editor’s Note US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra has advanced the existing Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) from a staff division to an operating division, using the new name of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR). ASPR is…

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Editor's Note On July 23, the World Health Organization (WHO) director-general declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern following the agency’s emergency committee inability to reach a consensus, Becker’s Hospital Review July 25 reports. After the no conclusion was drawn in the most recent meeting, WHO Director-General Dr…

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Editor's Note The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on July 12 that it will hold an emergency meeting—the second emergency meeting convened—next week to determine the global health risk of monkeypox, CNBC July 12 reports. The organization decided not to declare monkeypox a global health emergency just last month, noted…

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Editor's Note The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new guidance on July 11 to ascertain that “abortion is covered under the federal law requiring Medicare hospitals to provide all patients appropriate emergency care—including abortion care—regardless of state law,” Becker’s Hospital Review July 12 reports. The HHS…

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Editor's Note According to an “electronic health information” release by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), titled “HHS Needs to Improve Communications for Breach Reporting” and published on May 27, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has seen an increase in reported breaches of health information since 2015,…

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Editor's Note According to Politico June 25, the Biden Administration via the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) decided not to disclose the names of individual hospitals where patients contracted COVID-19, citing “privacy concerns,” Becker’s Hospital Review June 27 reports. This stance is supported by the American Hospital Association…

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