Highlights from the 2023 AHA Annual Membership Meeting (Days 2&3)
AHA presents Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi with Award of Honor
The AHA April 24 presented its 2023 Award of Honor to Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi for her efforts to advance health care throughout her career. The award recognizes individuals or organizations for exemplary contributions to the health and well-being of the nation through leadership on major health policy or social initiatives.
“Thank you for what you did to make all this possible,” Pelosi said. “Working together, we fought together, ending discrimination on the basis of preexisting conditions, extending affordable care to tens of millions more Americans, driving down premiums, eliminating lifetime limits on coverage, slashing the cost of Rx drugs for seniors and so much more.”
Kansas senator expresses support for rural emergency hospital model
Sen. Roger Marshall, M.D., R-Kan., opened the federal forum closing plenary by running down a list of concerns facing hospitals in his home state, and the value of the rural emergency hospital model to support remote communities.
Marshall, an OB-GYN prior to his time in Congress, urged hospital leaders to remember that people must be their priority in health care. “That’s when we see patient satisfaction rates go up,” Marshall said.
NH senator challenges hospital leaders to continuously improve for patients
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., stressed that patients expect hospitals to put them first, and challenged the field to have “tough conversations” about how to ensure that continues to happen.
“Everyone, including everyone in this room, needs to take a hard look at all of our current practices to ensure that we're always putting patients, and their ability to get the care they need, first,” Hassan said. “That includes making cost transparency a priority and distinguishing between institutional interests and the needs of patients.”
Hassan, a member of the Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor & Pensions committees, praised hospitals for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. “You and your colleagues showed up then, and you continue to show up now.”
Nebraska lawmaker voices support for permanent COVID-19-era flexibilities
Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., told attendees he supports making permanent some flexibilities initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic that have improved the nation’s health care system.
“The world did not come to an end when there were some flexibilities, whether it was in the training for a certified nurse's aide or other aspects of the flexibilities,” Smith said. “So, let's make these permanent where and when appropriate, and leave room for even more innovation moving forward.”
Smith, a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, expressed dissatisfaction with the 96-hour rule, saying it neither produces good results nor reflects the unique needs of critical access hospitals in different parts of the country. Smith has introduced AHA-supported legislation that would repeal the 96-hour rule.
Senator Todd Young speaks on pandemic lessons, what’s ahead for Congress
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., spoke to attendees about the role of Congress as the health care field moves beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when the entire country “learned just how essential essential workers are.” He spoke on various pieces of upcoming legislation, as well as his support for the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, which passed in 2022 and aims to reduce and prevent suicide, burnout and mental and behavioral health conditions among health care workers.
Dean, Bucshon discuss support for SAVE Act
Mary Beth Kingston, chief nursing officer for Advocate Health and an AHA trustee, moderated a discussion with Reps. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., and Larry Bucshon, M.D., R-Ind., about their co-sponsorship of the Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees Act, which would make assaulting a health care worker a federal crime, similar to federal protections for airline workers.
“This is not a partisan issue,” Dean said. “This is a critically important issue; it has nothing to do with politics.”
Bucshon, a physician by training, agreed. “This is about health care workers. I think it’s easy to find bipartisan solutions on issues that are important to the American people.”
The SAVE Act has another advantage, Dean says. “This is not some dense piece of legislation. It is concise and clear and to the point.”
FBI Director Wray talks cyberattacks, workplace violence
FBI Director Christopher Wray detailed how the U.S. health care system has become a valuable target for cyberattacks from nation-states and independent cybercriminals, and how hospitals can team up with the FBI to defend against and, ideally, prevent such attacks. “The best time to patch the roof,” he said, “is before there’s a leak.”
Ransomware attacks have become more sophisticated and expensive, costing hospitals and health systems billions in data recovery and lost work and threatening their ability to provide patient care, Wray said. “Cyberspace today is ripe with technically sophisticated actors looking for vulnerabilities to exploit. What all this translates to is a multidimensional cyberthreat of actors who have the tools to paralyze entire hospitals.”
He also spoke about violence in the hospital setting and how FBI field offices partner with local hospitals and health care systems to address such wide-ranging issues as mass-casualty incidents, identifying and deterring those who may commit violence in a hospital setting, and active-shooter training.
“Partnering with the private sector is critical to our mission,” Wray said. “The information you share has real-world impacts and can save real businesses and real lives. You don’t have to wait around until there’s a crisis to call us.”
Also during the annual meeting, AHA presented its:
• 2023 Distinguished Service Award to Jim Skogsbergh, co-CEO of Advocate Health.
• 2023 Award of Honor to Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.
• 2023 Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award to Wendell Primus, former senior health policy advisor to Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.
• Board of Trustees Awards to Marna P. Borgstrom, former CEO of Yale New Haven Health, and Andy Carter, president and CEO of The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania.
• Justin Ford Kimball Innovators Award to Jim Hinton, former president and CEO, Baylor Scott & White Health.
• 2023 Foster McGaw Prize to Memorial Hermann Health System.
• 2023 Award for Excellence to Captain Kimberly D. Davis, M.D., CEO (director) of Naval Medical Center San Diego, United States Navy.
• 2023 Special Achievement Award to Captain Cody Morcom, U.S. Air Force, commander’s support staff flight commander and medical group executive officer at Dover (Del.) Air Force Base.
Podcasts
During the Annual Membership Meeting, AHA conducted a series of live podcasts with several speakers on pressing issues.
• A CEO’s Perspective: Key Learnings to Strengthen Cybersecurity
• How One Hospital is Navigating Inflation and Workforce Pressures
• The CY24 Medicare Advantage Final Rule: Key Updates and Changes