Editor's Note The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on July 20 launched a new Data Hub for COVID-19 hospitalization data that officials say provides a more comprehensive view of the pandemic than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National Healthcare Safety Network, where the information…

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Editor's Note Leaders of the US House of Representatives telehealth caucus introduced legislation on July 16 to permanently open up access to telehealth services for Medicare patients, the July 16 Fierce Healthcare reports. The bipartisan bill will eliminate restrictions on use in Medicare patients, and it will provide a bridge…

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Editor's Note The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on July 15 announced that in a move to improve information gathering and resource allocation, hospitals will begin sending their COVID-19 related data directly through HHS Protect or TeleTracking rather than submitting it the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention…

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Editor's Note Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine could happen in October, the July 12 Time reports. The company was granted FDA Fast Track designation for the vaccine. Pfizer’s vaccine, being developed with its German biotech partner BioNTech, uses a messenger-RNA, genetics-based approach. Pfizer CEO Albert…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) on July 10 reported that health-related workplace absenteeism rates were significantly higher than expected in March and April for some occupational groups in essential critical infrastructure categories. The following significantly exceeded their epidemic thresholds: personal care and services, including childcare…

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Editor's Note This July 10 report from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) provides detailed demographic and clinical information on a subset of 10,647 people who died with COVID-19 (ie, decedents) in 16 US public health jurisdictions between February 12 and May 18. The researchers found that: 60.6%…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced July 1 that it has made two sets of standards changes for deemed-status hospitals and critical access hospitals. The first set of changes, which went into effect July 1, was made in response to hospital deeming renewal applications with the Centers for Medicare &…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on July 8 announced that because of extended data submission timelines and optional reporting for fourth quarter 2019 data due to COVID-19, the planned July 2020 display of two ORYX Perinatal Care measures on Quality Check has been placed on hold. The measures are: PC-02…

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Editor's Note The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci says COVID-19 vaccine candidates will start moving into late-stage clinical trials by the end of July, continuing through the summer and into fall, the July 2 Reuters reports. The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on June 26 posted key updates for week 25, of the COVID-19 epidemic, ending June 20. The percentage of US deaths attributed to flu, pneumonia, or COVID-19 decreased for the ninth consecutive week to 6.9%, from 9.5% a week earlier.…

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