In a speech at the American Medical Association’s annual meeting in Chicago, CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt emphasized the agency is dedicated to working with physicians on the proposed rule implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), especially to address worries about its effect on smaller practices.

A new proposed rule from CMS would make antibiotic stewardship programs mandatory for Medicare and Medicaid hospitals, along with changes in anti-discrimination policies, nursing requirements, readmissions information and patient nutrition standards.

The Affordable Care Act has helped Americans living in rural areas get better access to more affordable care, HHS said.

The Food and Drug Administration’s decades-old rule preventing gay men from donating blood is being targeted by Democratic members of Congress in the wake of the deadly shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando that left 49 people dead and another 53 injured.

Rather than focusing on efforts to repeal or defund portions of the Affordable Care Act, House Republicans discussed five pieces of legislation aiming to make smaller changes to the law at a congressional hearing June 10

American Medical Association Executive Vice President and CEO James L. Madara, MD, said physicians need to have a role in the creation of new digital products as a way to ensure the industry stays away from what he calls a “digital dystopia” of technology that makes care less efficient

The Affordable Care Act has helped Americans living in rural areas get better access to more affordable care, HHS said. 

More than 3,000 members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association will vote June 13 whether or not to continue working at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Boston Globe reports. That strike would last one day and could start any time after June 23, based on a 10-day strike notification agreement.