AHA Stat Blog

Patients should be confident in knowing that their hospital is their lifeline to access care in their community. The cuts proposed today raise serious concerns about how hospitals and health systems can ensure they serve as the safety net for their patients.

I was pleased to take part in a robust discussion about new leadership competencies last week in conjunction with the South by Southwest Festival.

The AHA is here to help hospitals and health systems build the future of health care delivery.  

The shift to a health care system that rewards value over volume is fundamentally transforming the patient care landscape.

The AHA will be participating in a number of sessions across the coming days as part of the SXSW Interactive Festival’s Health and MedTech track – to share how hospitals and health systems are transforming to advance health in their communities.

All around us, we see exciting examples of bold thinking and experimentation to better serve patients. Already, many of these new models and methods are achieving positive results.

Patients and their providers rely on these prescription drugs for treating injury and managing illness. Yet the drug companies and their shareholders have been treating America’s patients and providers like a piggybank.

The AHA has partnered with The University of Chicago Booth School of Business to develop a new training opportunity for health care leaders, Building and Leading a Culture of Innovation. The course, which is offered in April and July, will help leaders uncover behaviors that inhibit innovation in their organizations, and develop a plan for unblocking them guided by best practices for change management.

Get the ball rolling today by starting a conversation with your board about your vision, role and purpose in the community.

As a politically practical matter, we need to focus on finding consensus to improve the system we have rather than subject the nation to yet another polarizing debate on health care. 

AHA Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President Jay Bhatt, D.O., shares information on a new resource from AHA’s Physician Alliance to help frontline staff and their leadership teams tackle the social determinants of health.

“Competition? It’s What the Doctor Ordered” paints an incomplete picture of how coordinated networks of care among hospitals and health systems affect health care delivery. Not only does it leave out many key facts on the benefits to patients and communities…it also attempts to draw broad conclusions based on limited and incomparable studies and data.

In this ever-changing world, there are fewer certainties than ever before: the health care field, the political landscape, and even the climate are transforming as I write. But, one thing that doesn’t change, and you can count on: The AHA Annual Membership Meeting is one of the best places to learn about the new trends shaping health care, hear about our field’s opportunities to impact public policy from the key players who are shaping it, and talk with your peers from across the country about how we can build a stronger health system for our patients, hospitals and communities.

Earlier this month AHA released a blog post that pointed out numerous flaws in a recent Health Affairs study on hospital and physician prices between 2007 and 2014. We asked the respected economics consulting firm Charles River Associates to take an even closer at why the study’s findings are flawed.

AHA’s Association for Community Health Improvement’s annual conference is a chance for health care leaders to shape population health and equity initiatives from the ground up.

In recent years, Airbnb, Uber and Netflix have changed the way we vacation, hail a ride and watch movies.

The last thing a patient should worry about in a health crisis is an unanticipated medical bill that unintentionally impacts their out-of-pocket costs … and undermines the trust and confidence that patients have in their caregivers.

The authors of this Health Affairs study on hospital and physician prices use limited data to draw broad conclusions.

We must act now – and together – to protect local access to high-quality, affordable care and empower rural hospitals to thrive as cornerstones of their communities for generations to come.

The AHA’s goal is to improve the health care of every American, no matter where they live…big city, small town, frontier or somewhere in between.