Baby Containers: The Good, The Bad, & What to Do
(UVA Health – March 25, 2026)

Setting your kids up for a lifetime of health is one of the biggest, and most stressful, parts of parenthood. Every choice, from food to car seat, feels weighty and challenging. With baby equipment, it’s very possible to end up with too much of a good thing. This can lead to babies spending too much time in containers. For babies, containers are anything that limits their movement. When babies spend too much time in containers, they can end up with underdeveloped muscles. This leads to gross motor delays, and if muscles are developed unevenly, can lead to future problems with joints, including their spine.

Dr. Nathan Kuppermann honored by AAAS for leadership in pediatric research
(Children’s National Hospital – March 26, 2026)

Nathan Kuppermann, MD, MPH, executive vice president, chief academic officer and chair of Pediatrics at Children’s National Hospital, and director of the Children’s National Research Institute has been elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), one of the world’s largest and most prestigious scientific societies. Election as an AAAS Fellow is among the highest honors in science, recognizing individuals whose contributions have advanced research, innovation and its application for the benefit of society.

Expanding naloxone access could reduce adolescent overdose deaths
(Children’s National Hospital – March 26, 2026)

Opioid-related deaths continue to remain high among adolescents. Naloxone, an opioid antagonist available as a nasal spray, rapidly reverses overdose by blocking opioid receptors. The medication is easy to administer, has minimal side effects and produces no effect if opioids are not present. Despite these advantages, naloxone is often not used even when another person is present during an adolescent’s overdose event.

Family Resource Center supports complete care for kids and families at CHoR
(Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU – March 26, 2026)

Healthy kids and families require more than great medical care. Food, transportation, utilities and more form an essential foundation for physical and emotional wellbeing. The Family Resource Center was created in 2023 to connect families with these resources and others they may need. Located on the Sky Lobby of the Children’s Pavilion, it’s been so well received that more space is needed to best support our families’ success.

Kratom Calls Skyrocket to Nation’s Poison Centers
(UVA Health – March 26, 2026)

Calls to poison centers about kratom, a drug widely available in vape shops and gas stations, increased more than 1,200% between 2015 and 2025, with a corresponding rise in hospitalizations, an alarming new UVA Health analysis reveals. Last year saw a record-high 3,434 reports, up from only 258 in 2015. The researchers say the dramatic increase – including a marked jump last year – reflects both the drug’s growing availability and the increasing potency of new formulations.

New details emerge in Fishing Point Healthcare fraud allegation
(Virginia Mercury – March 27, 2026)

From July 2023 to June 30, 2024 the clinics billed DMAS for $105 million for 1,267 Medicaid members it served. The bulk of that bill, $96 million, was for personal care services — medical supplies for at-home care that helps elderly people or those with disabilities with daily necessities like bathing or eating. A letter from DMAS to Fishing Point last year notifying them of the suspension also pointed to billing in excess of five encounters per day for a single Medicaid member for clinic and pharmacy services.

Sentara Princess Anne Hospital achieves Magnet with Distinction
(Sentara Health – March 27, 2026)

Sentara Princess Anne Hospital has achieved Magnet® Recognition with Distinction from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), one of the highest honors in healthcare and the gold standard for nursing excellence and patient care. Fewer than 10% of hospitals nationwide earn Magnet status, and only about 75 hospitals worldwide have achieved Magnet with Distinction. This honor makes Sentara Princess Anne Hospital the third hospital in Hampton Roads to receive Magnet with Distinction, placing it among an elite group recognized for outstanding nursing practice, innovation, and patient outcomes.

Twin County Regional Healthcare Honored with Multiple Gemini Awards
(Twin County Regional Healthcare – March 26, 2026)

Twin County Regional Healthcare is proud to announce it has been recognized with multiple 2026 Gemini Awards, a distinguished readers’ choice honor voted on by the communities of Grayson County, Carroll County, and the City of Galax.

VHHA Patients Come First Podcast – Lawrence Tan
(Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association – March 29, 2026)

This episode of VHHA’s Patients Come First podcast features Lawrence “Larry” Tan, JD, NRP, the System Safety Officer at ChristianaCare Health Services in Delaware. He joins us for a conversation about his career in public safety and emergency response, facility and contingency planning in healthcare settings including workplace violence prevention, and his role as a featured speaker at the upcoming 2026 Virginia Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Summit on April 22. Send questions, comments, feedback, or guest suggestions to pcfpodcast@vhha.com or contact on X (Twitter) or Instagram using the #PatientsComeFirst hashtag.

Idaho governor approves $22M in Medicaid disability budget cuts
(News from the States – March 27, 2026)

Idaho Gov. Brad Little approved a bill that calls for nearly $22 million in budget cuts to Medicaid disability services. The governor signed House Bill 863 on Thursday, after the legislation cleared the Idaho House and Senate. The bill calls for cutting provider reimbursement rates for residential habilitation services by $21.8 million next fiscal year. That was on a list of cuts that Little recommended the Legislature consider to balance the state’s budget. This year, state lawmakers enacted deep, across-the-board spending cuts across several areas of government. But they largely spared Medicaid from those cuts — except for this bill, and a companion budget bill that officially enacts the cuts. That budget bill, Senate Bill 1435, passed the Senate on Thursday.

Oklahoma lawmakers advance measures that could undo Medicaid expansion protections
(KGOU – March 27, 2026)

Oklahoma lawmakers passed two measures that would put state questions before voters on Medicaid expansion, which could remove it from the state constitution or allow the Legislature to not fully cover its costs if federal support changes. On June 30, 2020, voters approved State Question 802 to expand Medicaid eligibility to adults aged 19-64 with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level. It went into effect the following year. That makes Oklahoma one of three states that enshrined expansion in its constitution, meaning an amendment is required to make changes.

10M could lose Medicaid due to work requirements, more frequent eligibility checks: study
(Healthcare Dive – March 27, 2026)

Between 5 million and 10 million people could lose Medicaid coverage in 2028 due to work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks mandated under the “Big Beautiful Bill” passed last year, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Two million to 3.1 million enrollees could lose coverage because states will have to redetermine their eligibility every six months, instead of annually. And between 3 million and 7 million could lose Medicaid due to policies that require many beneficiaries to log work, education or volunteer hours to stay enrolled.

State policy will determine how many people lose Medicaid under work rules
(News from the States – March 27, 2026)

All 41 states that expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act will see fewer people covered due to new federal work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks. But the percentage of recipients who lose coverage will vary greatly from state to state, depending on how state officials implement the new rules, according to a new report. The report, released this week by the Urban Institute with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, projects that in 2028, between 4.9 million and 10.1 million people will lose coverage as a result of the federal policy changes included in the broad tax and spending measure President Donald Trump signed last summer. That prediction is roughly in line with estimates by the Congressional Budget Office, which projected last fall that the changes would increase the number of people without health insurance by 7.5 million in 2034.

AI at the Bedside: Scaling Innovation Without Compromising Patient Safety
(Healthcare Innovation Group – March 27, 2026)

Artificial intelligence is no longer a pilot project or future investment. It is actively shaping clinical decision-making and is increasingly embedded in the medical devices that clinicians rely on every day. The majority of these devices are concentrated in radiology and image‑analysis applications, followed by cardiology, neurology, and other diagnostic specialties, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). From radiology workflows to surgical navigation systems, AI-enabled tools are influencing diagnoses, guiding procedures, and, in some cases, determining the trajectory of patient care in real time. For healthcare leaders focused on advancing value-based care, this shift presents both a strategic opportunity and a growing source of clinical and enterprise risk.

Financing Community Violence Intervention And Prevention Programs Through Medicaid
(Health Affairs – March 26, 2026)

Firearm violence spiked during the pandemic, causing disproportionate harm to minority communities and young men of color in particular. This drastic increase highlighted the need to bolster cost-effective public health–oriented strategies that reduce violent injuries, such as hospital-based violence intervention. Such programs fall under the community violence intervention (or CVI) umbrella.

‘Flying ICU’ aims to cut emergency response times in north central Florida
(WUSF – March 26, 2026)

HCA Florida on Wednesday unveiled an air ambulance program in Gainesville that will increase emergency transportation capacity in rural and hard-to-reach communities of north central Florida. The ribbon-cutting took place at the under-construction HCA Florida Gainesville hospital, adjacent to the longstanding HCA Florida North Florida campus. The helicopter program, HCA Florida AirLife, is a partnership between the hospital system and Air Methods. It will serve Levy, Gilchrist and Dixie counties and the surrounding area.

Healthcare Cyber Resilience: A Comprehensive Security and Recovery Guide
(HealthTech Magazine – March 26, 2026)

Health systems face the growing risk of IT outages caused by ransomware and other cyber-attacks, forcing healthcare leaders to rethink how care continues after critical systems go offline. For CISOs, IT directors and clinical operations leaders, the priority must be ensuring clinicians can safely treat patients without access to electronic health records, diagnostic systems and other core platforms. This is driving organizations to adopt cyber resilience strategies combining prevention, rapid recovery, business continuity planning and automation to maintain clinical operations during downtime.

How to encourage clinicians to embrace efficiency
(Healthcare IT News – March 26, 2026)

Improvements to clinical workflows are more likely to come from clinicians who are confident with new tools than from top-down mandates, says Dr. Meong Hi Son, Samsung Medical Center CMIO, in Part 2 of our interview.

Smoking rate among US adults drops to record low as vape use rises: CDC
(ABC News – March 26, 2026)

Cigarette smoking among U.S. adults continues to fall to record low levels as e-cigarette use rises, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published early Thursday. Nearly 10% of adults in the U.S. smoked cigarettes in 2024, the report found. This is down from about 11% in 2023, CDC data shows. Rates of cigarette use have dramatically fallen since a landmark 1964 Surgeon General report warned about the dangers of cigarette smoking and linked it to lung cancer, chronic bronchitis and other serious diseases.

Stryker restores most manufacturing after cyberattack
(Healthcare Dive – March 27, 2026)

Stryker has restored most manufacturing sites and critical lines roughly two weeks after the company suffered a cyberattack. The company is working with its global manufacturing sites as “operations steadily improve towards full capacity,” a spokesperson said in a statement emailed to MedTech Dive. Stryker is making “strong progress” on restoring underlying systems that support production and fulfillment. Stryker’s electronic ordering system, which was shut down due to the attack, has been restored for customers. The Portage, Michigan-based company is “working as quickly and safely as possible to reconcile orders, manufacture products and deliver to our customers so they can continue to provide seamless patient care,” the spokesperson said.

Study challenges ‘5-second rule’ for dropped surgical implants
(CIDRAP – March 26, 2026)

In kitchens, the “five-second rule” offers a small, comforting fiction—that what falls and is retrieved quickly can be salvaged germ-free. A similar story can surface in surgical settings, where dropped objects are surprisingly common. But a new randomized study suggests that even brief contact with a contaminated surface can affect the sterility of surgical implants and that certain disinfection methods can reduce, but not fully eliminate, contamination. In a study published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, researchers led by a team at the Duke Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention examined what happens when orthopedic implants used in joint-replacement surgery are contaminated and then disinfected using different approaches.

The AI agent problem on the horizon for healthcare
(Becker’s Hospital Review – March 27, 2026)

Most health system AI conversations are still focused on the first wave: which tools to adopt, which workflows to automate, which vendors to evaluate. Nasim Afsar, chief AI and analytics officer at City of Hope, is already thinking about the second wave — and the mess it could make. “One of the most important things that I keep thinking about day in day out is how do we really orchestrate all of these different AI tools and, these days, AI agents that every organization is adopting for point solutions. We want to get ahead of it so that in a year or so, we don’t have tens, hundreds, thousands of agents running around the organization, each doing their own thing, and they cannot talk to each other,” Ms. Afsar said.

U.S. hospital expenses grow 7.5% in 2025, workforce costs lead
(Cleveland.com – March 27, 2026)

U.S. hospitals saw total expenses rise by 7.5% in 2025, according to the American Hospital Association’s latest annual Costs of Caring report. Workforce expenses remained the top operating cost for hospitals, rising 5.6% in 2025 from the previous year, said the American Hospital Association, a not-for-profit association of health care providers and organizations.

Why kids and families learn to cook during doctor’s appointments at a Massachusetts hospital
(CBS News – March 26, 2026)

March is Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month, and for families navigating celiac disease, treatment does not come in the form of medication or a cure. Instead, it requires a lifelong commitment to a strict gluten-free diet. At Boston Children’s Hospital’s Needham campus, that education is happening in an unexpected place – the kitchen. What looks at first like a cooking class, is actually a doctor’s appointment designed to help children and families build real-life skills around food and health.

Give and Take: Federal Rural Health Funding Could Trigger Service Cuts
(KFF Health News – March 27, 2026)

It’s one of the many parts of the 25-bed rural hospital that need updating, former CEO Ron Wiens said. He said the hospital, an essential service in its namesake town of nearly 800 residents in the state’s sprawling north-central high plains, needs at least $1 million for deferred maintenance, including a failing HVAC system. But the facility has struggled to make payroll each month and can’t afford to make all the fixes, Wiens said. Built by farmers and ranchers in 1965, Big Sandy Medical Center began with nine beds. Today, a similar community effort — donations and grants to plug financial holes each year — keeps it afloat.

HHS convenes health care execs, motivational speaker on panel to modernize health care
(STAT News – March 26, 2026)

A motivational coach, a venture capitalist who worked with health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s son, and a number of health care executives whose firms span value-based care, mental health, and primary care have been tapped to advise federal officials on how to improve and modernize the health care system. The members of the new advisory group, called the Healthcare Advisory Committee, were named Thursday by Kennedy and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz. In a video announcement, Kennedy said officials reviewed more than 400 candidates before settling on 18 who will drive Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Agenda by developing policy on tackling chronic diseases, reducing administrative burden, and enhancing care for vulnerable populations.

Sources: White House to propose 20 percent cut to NIH funding
(Roll Call – March 27, 2026)

The White House is expected to ask Congress to cut National Institutes of Health spending by 20 percent in the president’s fiscal 2027 budget request, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the planning. The budget request, slated for release next week, reflects President Donald Trump’s policy priorities and acts as a guide to lawmakers as they draft appropriations bills for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Cuts of that size would be a step down from the 40 percent reductions the Trump White House proposed last year, but would still represent a massive blow to the biomedical research agency, and one that would get major push back from lawmakers of both parties.

Trump Team Claims Successes Against ACA Fraud While Pushing for More Controls
(KFF Health News – March 27, 2026)

Complaints about enrollment fraud in Affordable Care Act health insurance coverage have bedeviled the federal marketplace for years. Now, the Trump administration is claiming wins in reducing the problem while simultaneously saying more controls are needed. It has proposed a sweeping set of ACA regulations for next year, including stepped-up requirements for some applicants to prove eligibility for subsidies or enrollment and new scrutiny of sales agents and marketing practices. While there is a general acknowledgment that there is fraud in the ACA marketplace, some health policy analysts say these new requirements miss that mark and instead will make it harder for people who are eligible to enroll.