AHA Stat Blog

This week, as our nation marked the passing of President George H.W. Bush, I thought about what he meant for the country and its health.

AHA Senior Vice President Melinda Reid Hatton examines why a recent study on hospital consolidation from the Center for American Progress misses the mark.

Three years ago, the AHA launched the #123forEquity pledge campaign to accelerate progress toward improving health equity, asking hospitals and health systems to take action in three areas: increasing the collection and use of race, ethnicity, language preference and other socio-demographic data; increasing cultural competency training; and increasing diversity in leadership and governance. A fourth area – improving and strengthening community partnerships – was added last year. 

Earlier this month, voters in exit poll after exit poll made it clear that health care is an important issue to them. And near the top of their list of concerns was the affordability of health care services. 

The birth of a child is and should be among the happiest events in a woman’s life.

“When Hospitals Merge, Patients Often Pay More” doesn’t paint a full picture of the root cause of higher health care costs to consumers.

We can work together to increase the number of people in our communities who have health insurance and the opportunity to reach their highest potential for health. 

In the midst of tragedy, our first responders – police, firefighters and EMTs – and the women and men of America’s hospitals and health systems stand strong, working to get victims out of harm’s way and into lifesaving treatment, sometimes risking their own lives in the process.

As the industry “that generates higher profit margins than any other,” Big Pharma continues to price gouge consumers for life-saving drugs. One thing the pharmaceutical industry is not entitled to, however, is its own set of facts.

I am grateful for the time and commitment that people working and volunteering in hospitals and health systems give to their communities every day.

However, there’s still much to do.

Jay Bhatt, D.O., AHA senior vice president and chief medical officer, and Robyn Begley, DNP, R.N., AHA senior vice president and chief nursing officer, highlight three podcasts featuring leaders from Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Catholic Health Initiatives discussing effective co-leadership models.

We are surrounded by a sea of data: Health information is doubling every three years. By 2020, it’s estimated it will double every 73 days.

Now that Election 2018 is in the books, what do the results mean for hospitals and health systems?

Hospitals are using CHWs to expand access to care and achieve better health outcomes, particularly among underserved communities. 

A recent opinion piece in The Hill paints an inaccurate picture of CMS’s site-neutral payment proposal, which is both bad policy and clearly undercuts Congressional intent to protect payments for hospital outpatient clinic visits and expanded services at certain off-campus hospital departments from cuts.

Hospitals and health systems continue to be challenged by the ever-increasing number of quality measures that must be reported.

When more people have health coverage, everyone wins—the patients who need care, the insurers that provide coverage, and the hospitals and health systems that provide care. 

Even as we work to close our knowledge gaps around long-term outcomes and care, it is clear that Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome merits greater attention.

When tragedy strikes, the role of hospitals and health systems is clear: respond, treat, and be a force for good.