Chairperson's File

Chairperson's File / en Fri, 25 Apr 2025 12:29:26 -0500 Mon, 14 Apr 25 11:14:43 -0500 Chair File: Resources for Navigating Transformation and Change /news/chairpersons-file/2025-04-14-resources-navigating-transformation-and-change This is an incredibly dynamic and transformative time for health care. One resource I have found incredibly helpful in speaking with many of you and engaging in strategic discussions are the <a href="/type/fact-sheets" target="_blank" title="Key Issues Fact Sheets">fact sheets</a> provided by the AHA. These concise, simple documents offer a wealth of information around key issues, what the AHA is doing and why, and how you can engage with these efforts.There are likely to be substantial changes in health care policy during the new administration, and these fact sheets are great tools for advocating with your legislators and understanding the implications on the financial sustainability of our hospitals and health systems. Topics include enhanced premium tax credits, Medicaid, site-neutral payments, 340B drug pricing and more.The AHA is focused on addressing these challenges head on with Congress, the administration, regulatory bodies and the courts to shape policy that advances our long-term viability and efforts to provide quality patient care. Our&nbsp;<a href="/advocacy-agenda" target="_blank" title="2025 Advocacy Agenda">2025 Advocacy Agenda</a> is focused on:<ul><li>Ensuring access to care.</li><li>Strengthening the health care workforce.</li><li>Advancing quality and health care system resiliency.</li><li>Leading innovation in care delivery.</li><li>Reducing health care system costs for patient care.</li></ul>We will be talking about these key advocacy priorities and pressing issues facing our field at the&nbsp;<a href="https://annualmeeting.aha.org/" target="_blank" title="AHA Annual Membership Meeting">AHA Annual Membership Meeting</a> May 4-6 in Washington, D.C. I hope to connect with many of you there as we engage in insightful conversations with policymakers, legislators and thought leaders.Each of us has influence to use on behalf of our patients, caregivers and communities, and every vote matters. Together as a field, we have the power to make a difference. When we work together, we speak with a voice that is loud, clear and effective. Because we are here to care for the neighbors in our communities no matter what headwinds we face.Helping You Help Communities: Key AHA Resources<ul><li><a href="/type/fact-sheets" target="_blank" title="AHA Fact Sheets">AHA Fact Sheets</a></li><li><a href="/advocacy-agenda" target="_blank" title="2025 Advocacy Agenda">2025 Advocacy Agenda</a></li><li><a href="/advocacy-issues" target="_blank" title="Advocacy Issues and Resources">Advocacy Issues and Resources</a>&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://annualmeeting.aha.org/" target="_blank" title="AHA Annual Membership Meeting Webpage">2025 AHA Annual Membership Meeting</a></li></ul> Mon, 14 Apr 2025 11:14:43 -0500 Chairperson's File Chair File: Leadership Dialogue — Importance of Advocacy and Storytelling in Rural Health with Lori Wightman, R.N., CEO of Bothwell Regional Health Center /news/chairpersons-file/2025-03-31-chair-file-leadership-dialogue-importance-advocacy-and-storytelling-rural-health-lori Rural hospitals and health systems face big challenges, but together — with a unified voice — we can work to ensure people living in rural communities get the safe, quality health care they need.In this Leadership Dialogue, I’m joined by Lori Wightman, R.N., CEO of Bothwell Regional Health Center, in Sedalia, Mo. Lori and I discuss working in a “family atmosphere” unique to a rural hospital and navigating the same pressures that face urban hospitals, including workforce shortages and the high costs of labor, supplies and drugs. Rural hospitals also experience severe underpayments by Medicare and Medicaid, and most have “razor-thin” operating margins.Lori describes leading annual advocacy days — where Bothwell board members meet with state legislators (and candidates in election years) — and emphasizes the importance of all team members telling the hospital story.I hope you find our conversation insightful and strategic. Look for future conversations with health care, business and community leaders on making health better as part of the Chair File in 2025. &nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0QCVh9HyZ4&amp;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aha.org%2F&amp;source_ve_path=OTY3MTQ" target="_blank" title="YouTube: Leadership Dialogue Series: Importance of Advocacy and Storytelling in Rural Health">Watch the Leadership Dialogue on YouTube.</a><hr><div></div><a href="https://player.captivate.fm/episode/934a92c6-6fc0-4245-b43b-0c44a2bc9ea4" target="_blank" title="Captivate: Leadership Dialogue Series: The Importance of Advocacy and Storytelling in Rural Health">Listen to the Leadership Dialogue on Captivate.</a>&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"> <details class="transcript"> <summary> <h2 title="Click here to open/close the transcript."> View Transcript </h2> </summary> 00:00:01:05 - 00:00:23:09 Tom Haederle Welcome to Advancing Health. In the face of today's multiple challenges, every hospital needs support and buy in for its mission of great care. Storytelling - sharing the right kinds of stories with the right audience at the right time - is a great way to build and maintain that support. This is particularly important for rural hospitals and health systems, most of which have razor-thin operating margins. 00:00:23:12 - 00:00:40:10 Tom Haederle In this month's Leadership Dialogue, hosted by the �� Association's 2025 Board Chair Tina Freese Decker, we hear more about the importance of advocacy and of all team members participating in telling the hospital story. 00:00:40:13 - 00:01:07:25 Tina Freese Decker Thank you so much for joining us today. I'm Tina Freese Decker, president CEO for Corewell Health, and I'm also the board chair for the �� Association. Last month we talked about trust and how our hospitals and our health systems can strengthen that trust with our communities and the people that we serve. Our rural hospitals are uniquely positioned to do this, as they are often the largest employers in their towns and communities, and frequently the only local source of care. 00:01:07:27 - 00:01:28:07 Tina Freese Decker Rural health care is about being a family. We take care of each other in our communities as best as possible, and we're here to provide that care close to home, no matter what headwinds that we all face. I recently had the opportunity to attend the �� Association's Rural Conference and you could really feel that sense of family and community in the room. 00:01:28:09 - 00:01:59:15 Tina Freese Decker We work in hospitals in red states and blue states all across the country, but we are all focused on the same thing: helping our neighbors in our communities to be healthier. There are some big challenges that are facing real health care, but together with a unified voice, we can get what we need. As I have traveled around our country meeting with the �� Association's regional policy boards and visiting the rural hospitals and my health system and others, the number one concern that I have heard from our hospitals, our communities, is access. 00:01:59:18 - 00:02:22:28 Tina Freese Decker And that is why it is so integral to the �� Association strategy and it is why it is so important that we come together as a field and that we're united as a field, because these challenges that we are facing are real. So today, I am pleased to have a distinguished leader in rural health care with us to talk about how we can all work together to advocate for the needs of our hospitals. 00:02:23:01 - 00:02:45:09 Tina Freese Decker I'd like to welcome Lori Wightman. She is the CEO of Bothwell Regional Health Center, a 108 bed acute care hospital in Sedalia, Missouri. Laura has served in this role since 2019, but even prior to Bothwell, she worked in real health care as the president of Mercy Hospital Ada in Ada, Oklahoma. So, Lori, welcome. Glad you were able to join us today. 00:02:45:15 - 00:02:46:17 Lori Wightman, R.N. Thank you, Tina. 00:02:46:19 - 00:03:03:20 Tina Freese Decker And I wanted to start out with just telling us a little bit about yourself. I know you started your health care career as a nurse and then you made the shift to administration. Can you tell us about yourself and how you see that family aspect in the hospital and the community in our rural areas? 00:03:03:22 - 00:03:30:01 Lori Wightman, R.N. Sure. Well, my father was a hospital administrator and my mother was a nurse, so I did both. And so it was a natural progression. And I think the foundation that nursing lays gives you all kinds of transferable skills that have been very helpful as I went into hospital administration. My career and dating advice has always been, you can't go wrong with a nurse. 00:03:30:03 - 00:03:57:14 Lori Wightman, R.N. And there's certainly served me well. And you talk about that family atmosphere. That is why I continue to choose rural health care. I've done the CEO position in a suburban hospital, and I sat at our senior leadership team meeting and thinking I was the only one on our senior leadership team that even lived in the area that we served. 00:03:57:17 - 00:04:23:24 Lori Wightman, R.N. Everyone else lived in a different suburb, and I just thought that was strange and disconnected. And, so I returned again then to rural health care because it is like a family. And it's ironic because we just finished revisiting our mission, vision and values. And our new mission statement talks about together we work to provide compassionate and safe care to family, friends, and neighbors. 00:04:23:27 - 00:04:37:07 Lori Wightman, R.N. Invariably, when I met new employee orientation, a significant number of people were born at the hospital. That's why I love rural. It's like that "Cheers" phenomenon where everyone knows your name. 00:04:37:09 - 00:05:01:02 Tina Freese Decker Very true. I used to lead a couple of rural hospitals as well. And like you said, even just walking into a rural hospital it feels like family where everyone there knows your name and of course, protect things from a confidentiality and a privacy perspective, but that feeling that we're all in this together. So I love that your mission statement is about together, that you can make an impact on people's health. 00:05:01:05 - 00:05:13:28 Tina Freese Decker I described a little bit about what it's like to walk into a rural hospital. Can you share a little bit about what is like to be a rural hospital, what it means in today's environment and why it's such a great place to work? 00:05:14:01 - 00:05:47:06 Lori Wightman, R.N. Well, in many ways, rural hospitals are uniquely the same as our suburban or urban counterparts. Forty six million people depend on a rural hospital for their care. So we struggle with the same labor shortages, the cost of labor supplies and drugs is rising faster than our reimbursement. We have all of those same struggles. Unique is that family atmosphere, I think. 00:05:47:06 - 00:06:13:26 Lori Wightman, R.N. And we have multiple generations working at the hospital. Now, you can't say anything bad about anyone because invariably they're somehow related. Or they were best friends in high school, or they used to be married to each other. So I mean, it's unique in that way. We have the same types of struggles that &nbsp;our counterparts do. 00:06:13:28 - 00:06:18:03 Tina Freese Decker What pressures are you feeling the most acutely right now? 00:06:18:06 - 00:06:47:09 Lori Wightman, R.N. Well, you take all of those common challenges that I talked about, and you turn up the volume a little bit. Because for us, 78% of our patients and our volume is governmental payers, so 78% of our business, we're getting reimbursed below cost. You can't make that up in volume. So we rely on all of the governmental programs, you know, disproportionate share all of those things. 00:06:47:09 - 00:06:54:22 Lori Wightman, R.N. And, 340B is doing exactly for us what it was designed to do, save rural hospitals. 00:06:54:25 - 00:07:11:22 Tina Freese Decker Those areas are critical that they remain. And so that we can continue to provide that sustainable, high quality care in our communities and all of our communities. 78% being governmental. It's a huge portion of what we do and what we rely on for access and caring for people. 00:07:11:29 - 00:07:23:15 Lori Wightman, R.N. Right. We are the typical rural hospital. We have razor-thin margins and aging plant of 18 years. 00:07:23:18 - 00:07:31:10 Tina Freese Decker So those are challenges that you're trying to navigate right now with all of the other things that happen. And how is your staffing levels going? Are those going okay? 00:07:31:13 - 00:07:55:12 Lori Wightman, R.N. Have the same labor shortage issues. We still have 22 traveling nurses here, but we have started being very aggressive in a grow your own program. And so as soon as the next month we're going to cut that number in half and then, within six months, we're hoping to have all of contract staff out. 00:07:55:15 - 00:08:02:04 Tina Freese Decker Is that something that you're most proud of, or is there something else that you want to share that you're most proud of from a rural hospital perspective? 00:08:02:06 - 00:08:29:24 Lori Wightman, R.N. I think what I'm most proud of is you get to personally view the impact of your decisions on people. I'm very proud of our all the talented people that we have here, from clinicians to community health workers. All of our physicians get to use all of the things they learned in medical school and residency, because there isn't a lot of subspecialists, so they are working at the top of their license. 00:08:29:26 - 00:08:50:21 Lori Wightman, R.N. Just several months ago, one of our critical care physicians diagnosed a case of botulism. Now as an old infection control nurse I get very excited about that because I never thought in my career I would see botulism. But it was diagnosed and treated here and the person's doing well. 00:08:50:23 - 00:09:25:27 Tina Freese Decker Oh, that's wonderful to hear. When you talk about all the different people that are part of health care in rural settings, or also another settings, it's quite amazing to see how many different areas we need to come together to take care of our community. When you think about an even larger scale, from rural hospitals to urban and teaching hospitals and others, how do you think about the whole ecosystem of our field and how we, you know, do we need all of us or and is there a way to form that greater fabric and social connection, or is there something else that we should be doing? 00:09:25:29 - 00:09:50:21 Lori Wightman, R.N. We are all very interconnected and I believe we are all needed. And I especially feel that as an independent hospital, not part of a health system, this is my first independent hospital. I rely on my hospital association more than I ever did when I was working for a health system, because it all comes down to relationships. 00:09:50:21 - 00:10:18:13 Lori Wightman, R.N. And so how do you develop, how do you get yourself in situations where you are meeting and now working with your partners around the state or the region? Because it comes down to relationships, you really need to know who your neighbors are in terms of other hospitals, who you're referring your patients to and develop that working relationship because it is all interconnected. 00:10:18:13 - 00:10:25:06 Lori Wightman, R.N. And we rely on our partners that we refer to, and they rely on us, too. 00:10:25:08 - 00:10:43:23 Tina Freese Decker One of the things I heard you say about the Rural Health Conference that the �� Association just put on, and the value of the �� Association is that we're not alone. And those values of relationships are really critical. So I appreciate that. The �� Association also talks a lot about how do we tell the hospital story. 00:10:43:25 - 00:10:55:15 Tina Freese Decker So how do you engage in advocacy to make sure we're telling that hospital story so that our legislative leaders and others know the value that we're bringing to the community? 00:10:55:17 - 00:11:22:11 Lori Wightman, R.N. Well, we are surrounded by stories. And so the first thing is to always be picking up on what is the story that is surrounding us, and how can we capture that? Because the most effective way is to bring that patient or nurse or physician to the legislator to testify, because they are the most effective way of communicating a message. 00:11:22:18 - 00:11:49:07 Lori Wightman, R.N. You know, the suits can go and talk about data, but nothing is more effective than what I call a real person telling their story and how a decision or a potential decision is going to impact them and how it feels. The other thing we do is every October, it's become tradition. We have Advocacy Day with our board, at our board meeting. 00:11:49:09 - 00:12:21:12 Lori Wightman, R.N. We invite our state elected officials &nbsp;- so people representing us at the state capitol - to come to our board meetings. On election years their challengers also come and I invite the hospital association and they all answer two questions: What do you hope to accomplish in the next legislative session, and what do you think might get in the way? That sets the scene for my board to understand that part of their role in governance is advocacy. 00:12:21:14 - 00:12:29:19 Lori Wightman, R.N. And so I've had two of my board members...almost every legislative session I go and testify on on some bill. 00:12:29:21 - 00:12:50:01 Tina Freese Decker That is really a good idea. Thank you so much for sharing that. Do you have any other final suggestions for us as AHA members, as other hospitals, whether it's rural or urban, that we should think about or do as we think about advocacy and access or also field unity? 00:12:50:03 - 00:13:22:11 Lori Wightman, R.N. You know, having been on the board of two different state hospital associations, I get it. You know, sometimes members can be at odds with each other on a given issue. And my advice to AHA would be to play the role of convener, facilitating conversations between members to better understand each other's position. And if a middle ground can't be reached, then that might be an issue that AHA remains neutral on. 00:13:22:14 - 00:13:34:07 Lori Wightman, R.N. But there are so many issues where we can agree on and that is very much the role and what all of us depend on AHA to play in advocating. 00:13:34:09 - 00:14:02:15 Tina Freese Decker There's a lot that binds us together. Like you said, we're all caring for our neighbors and our communities, and that's the most critical piece of it. And we have to keep that front and center with every decision that we make and every action that we do. Well, Lori, thank you so much for being with us today on this AHA podcast, for sharing your expertise in rural health care and for talking about some new ideas that all of us can take forward to ensure that we're telling the hospital story in the best way possible. 00:14:02:18 - 00:14:21:09 Tina Freese Decker So while I know that we have our work ahead of us, I know that I continue to be energized every time I speak with committed and passionate hospital leaders like Lori. Again, appreciate your work that you do every single day for the neighbors and for the people in your community that you serve. We'll be back next month for another Leadership Dialogue conversation. 00:14:21:13 - 00:14:23:01 Tina Freese Decker Have a great day. 00:14:23:03 - 00:14:31:13 Tom Haederle Thanks for listening to Advancing Health. Please subscribe and rate us five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. </details> </div> Mon, 31 Mar 2025 10:49:30 -0500 Chairperson's File Chair File: Rural Health — Caring for Our Neighbors /news/chairpersons-file/2025-03-11-rural-health-caring-our-neighbors I’ve often said that rural health care is about family. We take care of each other and our communities as best as possible. Rural hospitals and health systems are often the largest employers in our cities and towns and care for our neighbors despite the challenges we face.I recently attended the <a href="/topics/aha-rural-health-care-leadership-conference">AHA’s Rural Health Care Leadership Conference</a>, and the passion in the room and family connections formed were electrifying. We were from all over the country, red states and blue states, coastal areas and inland, but every single person there was fully committed to helping the communities they serve be and stay healthy. And that is what unites us.Leading a rural hospital can feel like you are battling alone, but together with a unified voice we can advocate for what our rural patients need.As I’ve traveled across the country, meeting with the AHA’s Regional Policy Boards and visiting the rural hospitals in my own health system, the number one concern I heard from our hospitals and our communities is access.All of our neighbors deserve to have access to the care they need. That’s why we must be united, together as a field, to create the best health care system possible.Everyone should be able to access high-quality care. We need Congress to renew Medicare flexibilities past April 1 and help make telehealth options more available to patients. And we need continued investment and public-private partnership to bring broadband to more remote communities.We also have to help our rural hospitals maintain funding so they can continue to be that essential anchor in communities. Congress needs to protect 340B as well as address barriers that may make it difficult for rural hospitals to qualify for 340B eligibility. Additionally, Medicare and Medicaid are foundational for rural health. Although these programs are so important, on average, they do not cover the costs of providing care to patients. Proposals to cut Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement will only make it more difficult for hospitals to provide care now and prepare for the future.The AHA has done an incredible job voicing the needs of our hospitals and health systems, and we will continue to engage with Congress, the White House, regulators and the courts to advocate for your needs. But we need your support and engagement as well. <a href="/tellingthehospitalstory">Share your stories</a> of how you innovate and adapt to provide local, high-quality care to your neighbors, even during challenges.And this doesn’t just apply to our rural hospitals: We all need to work together and advocate to be recognized for the unique capabilities we provide. It’s so important because our neighbors are counting on us to be there for them well into the future.<h2>Helping You Help Communities: Key AHA Resources</h2><ul><li><a href="/advocacy/rural-health-services">AHA Rural Health Services and Resources</a></li><li><a href="/rural-advocacy-agenda#:~:text=The%20AHA%20urges%20Congress%20to,Clinic%20(RHC)%20Payment%20Cuts">2025 Rural Advocacy Agenda</a></li><li><a href="/advocacy/action-center">AHA Advocacy Action Center</a></li><li><a href="/tellingthehospitalstory">Telling the Hospital Story Webpage and Share Your Stories with the AHA</a></li></ul> Tue, 11 Mar 2025 10:15:52 -0500 Chairperson's File Chair File: Leadership Dialogue — Advancing Health and Building Trust with Lynn Hanessian and Robert Trestman, M.D. /news/chairpersons-file/2025-02-24-chair-file-leadership-dialogue-advancing-health-and-building-trust-lynn-hanessian-and-robert <div class="raw-html-embed"></div>Trust — in one another, in our field, and in our communities — is so important to what we do. Everyone should know that our hospitals and health systems are a place for healing, no matter what. Yet, over the past several years, public trust has been decreasing, not just in health care but across the board.In this Leadership Dialogue, I’m joined by Lynn Hanessian, former chief health strategist for Edelman, which recently released its <a href="https://www.edelman.com/trust/2025/trust-barometer" target="_blank" title="Edelman: 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer">2025 Trust Barometer</a>, and AHA Board Member Robert Trestman, M.D., chair of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at Carilion Clinic.Lynn, Bob and I dove deep into the importance of trust and how it has evolved in recent years, as well as how hospitals and health systems can build trust in our communities and with the people we serve. Overlistening and overcommunicating, sharing stories, and really connecting and talking with one another are all ways we can improve health and develop trust.I hope you find our conversation insightful and strategic. Look for future conversations with health care, business and community leaders on making health better as part of the Chair File in 2025.<hr><hr><div></div><div class="raw-html-embed"><div class="raw-html-embed"> <details class="transcript"> <summary> <h2 title="Click here to open/close the transcript."> View Transcript </h2> </summary> 00:00:01:06 - 00:00:29:09 Tom Haederle Welcome to Advancing Health. In this month's Leadership Dialogue, hosted by the �� Association's 2025 board Chair, Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of Corewell Health, we delve into the critical importance of trust - not only in the health care system, but across our society in general. Joining Tina are two distinguished experts who share their insights on what trust really means, why it seems to have eroded in many aspects of American life, and what we can do to restore it. 00:00:29:11 - 00:00:35:20 Tom Haederle Trust us. This is a discussion you don't want to miss. 00:00:35:22 - 00:00:59:00 Tina Freese Decker Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. I'm Tina Freese Decker, the president and CEO of Corewell Health and the board chair for the �� Association. In 2025, the AHA is all in on tackling the challenges facing health care today. And these Leadership Dialogue conversations are diving deep into issues for inspiration and action as we continue to make health better together. 00:00:59:02 - 00:01:21:18 Tina Freese Decker So today, I want to talk about an issue that seems timelier than ever. Trust. Trust in one another. Trust in our field. Trust in our communities and our government is so important to what we do every day. And everyone should know that our hospitals, our health systems are a place for healing no matter what. And that trust is critical. 00:01:21:21 - 00:01:44:03 Tina Freese Decker Yet we see over the past several years, public trust has been decreasing, not just in health care but across the board. So with me today to give us some insights into why this might be happening is Lynn Hanessian who just completed a 28-year tenure as chief health strategist for Edelman, a global communications firm, and has worked directly with a number of hospitals and health systems during her career. 00:01:44:06 - 00:02:04:17 Tina Freese Decker And we had the opportunity to meet last month, and I was just fascinated by her presentation and what she's seen. And then we also have Dr. Robert Trestman, who I call Bob, who is the chair of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at Carilion Clinic, based in Roanoke, Virginia. And he also serves as professor of behavioral medicine at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. 00:02:04:20 - 00:02:25:29 Tina Freese Decker And he's also on the �� Association board. He is passionate about helping health care professionals and emphasizes the importance of remembering that we are human beings. It's a great reminder, with limits, and it's okay to ask for help. So before we get started, I would just love to hear from each of you about what you trust in today and why. 00:02:26:01 - 00:02:49:03 Lynn Hanessian Well, I'll go first if you don't mind. So for me, trust is about this sort of sense of confidence. Do I rely on that person, that organization, that institution? Can I count on them to do what's right? And so having that, connection is really important and influences how I operate professionally and certainly how I operate personally and how I take care of my family. 00:02:49:08 - 00:02:50:03 Tina Freese Decker That's great. Thank you. Bob? 00:02:50:07 - 00:03:20:23 Robert Trestman, M.D., Ph.D. In same way as physicians, we are in a unique situation to bond with a patient and they need to believe that we have their interests at heart, even above our own. That's core to what we're all about. And for hospitals and health systems to be seen as extensions of the physicians, the nurses, the other clinicians who are dedicated to caring for our patients. 00:03:20:26 - 00:03:34:17 Robert Trestman, M.D., Ph.D. So their belief in us is paramount because frankly, unless they trust in us, they won't be willing to follow our recommendations and we won't be able to help them heal. 00:03:34:20 - 00:03:54:04 Tina Freese Decker Yeah, it's so important why I am so focused on our mission, because it is really about what we do and what we say we do in those values that are aligned there. And that's what gives me that confidence and trust that we're going to continue to focus on the mission. So, Lynn, let's start with you and the Trust Institute and the trust barometer. 00:03:54:06 - 00:03:59:21 Tina Freese Decker Can you give us some just general background on the work and the research that has been conducted? 00:03:59:24 - 00:04:22:23 Lynn Hanessian Thanks so much. To give you some framing around it, for about 25 years Edelman has been studying trust. And we originally sort of wanted to get a handle on what does the public think? How did they perceive sort of the pillars of society? How do they think about government, business, not for profits, the media? And what does that mean in relation to their behaviors? 00:04:22:24 - 00:04:42:18 Lynn Hanessian And I think, Dr. Trestman, you bring up a really good point. If people don't trust they're not going to follow their doctor's recommendations. And we found that if they don't have trust in their health, what we defined as the health ecosystem that includes the doctor, the hospital, all of those factors that help them get into the health care, 00:04:42:20 - 00:05:05:24 Lynn Hanessian they're not going to get their regular appointments. They're not going to get the kind of care that's recommended. And I deeply worried that that means they're going to turn somewhere else. As we've studied trust over the years, we've looked very closely at trust in different sectors of business, of industry. Health care is among the areas that we looked at, but we also want to understand how do we build trust? 00:05:05:27 - 00:05:17:03 Lynn Hanessian How do we think about the implications of that and how do we sort of, frankly, help to forge a more trusting society? So that's really been quite a journey that Edelman has been on. 00:05:17:05 - 00:05:26:13 Tina Freese Decker And so this conversation is particularly timely because Edelman just released the latest Trust Barometer data last month. What are some of the key trends that you can share with us? 00:05:26:16 - 00:05:55:03 Lynn Hanessian Absolutely. And I think, I'm going to share some global trends because it's important to know that we're not alone. We're in a really interesting time, a difficult time because what we've seen is really a rise in distrust, distrust in government, in business, across society. And even as employers, we've seen a decline in the last year, a decline in my trust in my employer, which is, you know, if you think about your daily activities, you know, your employer relationship is among the strongest. 00:05:55:05 - 00:06:16:04 Lynn Hanessian If we asked about spouses and loved ones, we'd probably find similar numbers. But what we know is, there's fear. There's fear of globalization, fear of economic pressures, fear of change that's really set upon us. And one of the things that the key concluding point that we saw this year, and again, this influence is what's coming into your health systems, 00:06:16:04 - 00:06:39:07 Lynn Hanessian that dialogue with the doctor, the dialogue with the nurse, the whole communities in which you operate. There is a lack of optimism about the future. There is also a real fear of being discriminated against across all of the demographics we look at. And there's a belief that the government and business has their self-interest in that it's not including me, and that our leaders aren't telling us the truth. 00:06:39:07 - 00:06:58:22 Lynn Hanessian So there's a real sort of intense worry, and we called it grievance this year that we're not going to get a fair shake. And so that's really the finding that we happened upon. And you can see there's forces in the world in which we live that want to shake our confidence in one sector so that they can have an advantage somewhere else. 00:06:58:22 - 00:07:01:12 Lynn Hanessian And we're seeing it play out in the general public. 00:07:01:14 - 00:07:21:01 Tina Freese Decker That word grievance, really hit me when you presented that to us and we talked about it. And it really does sum up where we are. And it's hard to be optimistic, but those are the things we need to be focused on and moving forward. So, Bob, as you're listening to this, what do you see are the implications of this distrust as it relates to health care? 00:07:21:04 - 00:07:48:11 Robert Trestman, M.D., Ph.D. Well, I think it's really important for us to be aware that there is this level of distrust in the community and to think through very consciously how we can mitigate it. The words that come up grievance, fear, trust, all are woven together. So we need to think through what is it our patients fear? Yeah. There's the fear of pain. 00:07:48:11 - 00:08:11:02 Robert Trestman, M.D., Ph.D. The fear of death. The fear of different kinds of morbidity. That's what we as clinicians are trained to focus on. But we now need to talk even more broadly about a range of other fears, because, frankly, people can be afraid that they even if we give them a recommendation, they may not be able to afford to follow it. 00:08:11:04 - 00:08:51:09 Robert Trestman, M.D., Ph.D. So we need to think through with our patients the financial implications of our recommendations, what it means for their families. So we as clinicians, as providers of care and as systems of care need to be very, very thoughtful about how to support our patients so they can trust that we are thinking through the implications of how we recommend they deal with their illnesses in ways that actually will benefit them globally, and not that we're just focusing on one issue that may compromise something else. 00:08:51:11 - 00:09:00:10 Tina Freese Decker So for both of you, how do we as hospitals and health systems help build that trust with our patients and with our communities and the people that we serve? 00:09:00:13 - 00:09:24:14 Lynn Hanessian So I have some good news. While trust in these powers outside of us has really declined, one of the few places where we still have trust is local. My doctor, my institutions, my media. And so that gives us some hope. And I think, Dr. Trestman, when you talked about things so beautifully, it's not just, you know, Lynn, you have a diagnosis, here's your medication. 00:09:24:15 - 00:10:02:12 Lynn Hanessian The things you're taking into account reassure me that you're concerned about all of me, that it is your understanding the context in which I live. And this is one of the few places where we have some defense, some opportunity to build trust, because that expertise of my doctor, more so than my CEO, is trusted. And so I think those places where we can lean into helping people to really understand all of those things, that we're seeing them not just as a diagnosis in a particular space, but we understand how that plays out in their whole lives, gives us an opportunity. 00:10:02:12 - 00:10:28:27 Lynn Hanessian And I think, you know, the way you described it is so much a reflection of, I'm concerned about you, how you live, those hurdles that may prevent you from achieving all you want to achieve. And so helping the people in the communities that we serve to understand that that's so central. I think you mentioned mission earlier, so central to how we serve, that we have an opportunity to build that trust. 00:10:28:28 - 00:10:50:19 Lynn Hanessian Now, one of the big challenges is when your patients are coming in, they're not getting a reliable source of information. They're not getting the news. We're not hearing the kinds of things and we don't trust public authority. So we have to think a little bit more about not only our individual patient, the role of our institutions in serving our communities and filling a little bit of that void. 00:10:50:27 - 00:10:52:11 Tina Freese Decker What would you suggest related to that? 00:10:52:15 - 00:11:20:15 Lynn Hanessian Well, I think, frankly, for health systems and hospitals, particularly hospital CEOs, take a look at your operations, your communications, your marketing, your public policy. All of your external and internal engagement activities have to be aligned. They have to be communicating. You can't just assume that we're in silos anymore where you've got your marketing team that's going out to bring in your patients, but your public policy folks are out there talking to your elected officials. 00:11:20:15 - 00:11:41:06 Lynn Hanessian We need to make sure that there's a an integration, a communication, and, frankly, a little bit of a willingness to share the occasional vulnerability. We have our authority and our expertise because we're doctors and we're anchored in science. On the other hand, having that opportunity to be human together with the people we serve can make a big difference. 00:11:41:09 - 00:11:55:24 Tina Freese Decker That goes back to your quote. So I'm curious to know what you think, Bob, we can do to build trust. And I know you're also very passionate about all of our teams that work in health care. And so how do we not only build trust with our community, but build it with our team members? 00:11:55:27 - 00:12:21:22 Robert Trestman, M.D., Ph.D. There is an aphorism that at least is true today, as it was when it was first uttered, that people don't care how much we know until they know that we care. And how is it that they know that we care? It's by what we do, what we say, how we interact. And so I think hospitals and health systems are uniquely positioned to be an integral part of the community. 00:12:21:24 - 00:12:55:06 Robert Trestman, M.D., Ph.D. In many of our communities, we are the financial driver, we are the main employer. And that gives us an enormous opportunity to think globally about the impact of care delivery to our patients. But also our clinicians need to feel supported and safe so that they can do their best to provide care to those in their charge. So, as Lynn just said, we need to think in a coordinated fashion. 00:12:55:09 - 00:13:40:08 Robert Trestman, M.D., Ph.D. Silos can no longer exist if we want to thrive as a health care system, we really need to work in a coordinated fashion so that all of the information is shared. And it's really, really hard to overcommunicate these days. We really need as long as we're on message, and our message is driven by our mission to improve health and health care for the people we care for, that our internal folks, our employees, our colleagues know that we are doing everything we can to support them, to provide them the infrastructure they need to deliver the care they want to do and to deliver. 00:13:40:11 - 00:13:46:27 Robert Trestman, M.D., Ph.D. Because so many of the people they're caring for are their neighbors in the communities in which we serve. 00:13:47:00 - 00:14:27:25 Lynn Hanessian I have to say, the one other real benefit from that is trust is built. When we look at a business or an institution, trust is built by how you treat your colleagues, your workforce. And seeing those folks, appreciating that - and I think that gets back to sort of this really integrated communication model when I know when your teams, everyone from the person I see as I'm walking into the institution who may be at the information desk all the way to the clinician, to the nurse, to every touchpoint - when I know that they have the confidence because their institution trust them, engages with them, that radiates and rebuilds my sense of trust and my confidence. 00:14:27:25 - 00:14:47:29 Lynn Hanessian So it's a nice virtuous cycle. And I would not underestimate the power of being a little bit more public sometimes with your internal communications, whether it's using your spokespeople or knowing that, as you said, so well, Dr. Trestman, that the people who are your employees are also part of your community, but that that then radiates out to their neighbors as well. 00:14:47:29 - 00:15:07:23 Lynn Hanessian And so I think that's a that's an important place to be in it. It's a little bit challenging when we think with respect and deference to our, our patients, but letting our hair down just a little bit helps people to understand. And that's sort of that a little bit of the genuine and authentic kind of engagement that people look for these days. 00:15:07:25 - 00:15:16:07 Robert Trestman, M.D., Ph.D. And if I may, as someone who serves on AHA the board with me, what do you think are some of the things that AHA members can be focusing on? 00:15:16:10 - 00:15:39:06 Tina Freese Decker Well, we've talked a little bit about it. I have this view of a kind of paradox. We have to overcommunicate and we have to over-listen, and we have to show both of those in an authentic, vulnerable way to make sure we know we're really connecting with people. We're hearing where their fears are or where they are anxious, or where they want to go in places and really understand that and then communicate it back and forth. 00:15:39:09 - 00:16:00:11 Tina Freese Decker So I think this power of communication is really critical. Also accepting grace. We're going to make mistakes and we need to make sure we continue move forward, and we have the best interests of people at heart. And how do we do that? Always focusing on the mission. And then lastly from the �� Association, sharing and communicating stories are so important for us. 00:16:00:18 - 00:16:31:26 Tina Freese Decker Talking about stories in the local community about what you can do to help patients, to help people live a healthier life. Those are really helpful as we drive those forward. As Lynn said, that local piece is critical. And then thinking about how do we represent ourselves well that delivers the trust and reinforces the trust in everyday actions. So I think we have to connect all of those dots and recognize that what we do is, is who we are, and we need to make sure we're delivering on that trust every single day. 00:16:31:29 - 00:16:51:05 Tina Freese Decker So thank you so much, Lynn and Bob, for your time today, for sharing your expertise. Every one of our hospitals, our health systems is here for their communities. Despite the challenges that we all face, making sure that everyone has access to the care that they need and trying to build that trust every single day, trying to build that trust with our teams, with one another, with our communities. 00:16:51:07 - 00:17:13:02 Tina Freese Decker And I think that the lessons that we've learned here about storytelling and over-communication and over-listening and connecting on a human level and really addressing it back to how we're serving everybody, and not assuming that people know that our mission is at the forefront of everything that we're doing, I think it's really great feedback for us. So thank you all for taking the time to listen to this Leadership Dialogue 00:17:13:02 - 00:17:16:17 Tina Freese Decker and we'll be back next month for another good conversation. 00:17:16:20 - 00:17:25:01 Tom Haederle Thanks for listening to Advancing Health. Please subscribe and rate us five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. </details> </div> </div> Mon, 24 Feb 2025 08:21:34 -0600 Chairperson's File Chair File: Building Trust in Today’s Environment /news/chairpersons-file/2025-02-11-chair-file-building-trust-todays-environment Edelman recently released its <a href="https://www.edelman.com/trust/2025/trust-barometer" target="_blank" title="2025 Trust Barometer">2025 Trust Barometer</a> titled “Trust and the Crisis of Grievance,” and it couldn’t be more timely. Trust — in one another, our hospitals and health systems, our communities and our government — feels more important than ever.The AHA knows how important public trust and confidence are to advancing the health of all individuals and communities. In fact, we included it as one of the principles in our 2025-2027 Strategic Plan, which was built on listening to feedback from our members. The plan is designed to tackle trust and other key issues so hospitals and health systems can continue to be places where our communities can go for healing, no matter what.The Edelman report explored how fear has turned into polarization and, in turn, into grievance. Many people feel a sense of grievance, not just with health care but with the government, media and other fields. However, rebuilding trust isn’t impossible. It starts by listening and taking action.The foundation of listening is seeking to understand. Our communities and patients want to feel seen and heard. Our teams want to feel valued and supported in the extraordinary care they provide.However, listening on its own isn’t enough. We need to take that feedback on what’s working and what isn’t and create better experiences for those providing and receiving care. We can also help proactively build trust by sharing stories of our incredible work and the people we serve with the AHA team and with legislators.We need our local and national leaders to understand how critical our work is to our communities. Equipping the AHA with stories empowers them to better advocate for our hospitals and health systems so we can serve our neighbors who are our stakeholders.Every one of our hospitals and health systems is here for their community despite the challenges they face, making sure that everyone has access to the care they need. And we’re not going anywhere.Now is the time to listen. Now is the time to act. And now is the time to rebuild trust in one another. Our neighbors are counting on us.Helping You Help Communities: Key AHA Resources<ul><li><a href="/ahas-2025-2027-strategic-plan" target="_blank" title="AHA&apos;s 2025-2027 Strategic Plan">AHA’s 2025-2027 Strategic Plan</a></li><li><a href="/tellingthehospitalstory" target="_blank" title="Telling the Hospital Story">Telling the Hospital Story</a>&nbsp;</li></ul> Tue, 11 Feb 2025 08:37:07 -0600 Chairperson's File Chair File: Leadership Dialogue — Tackling Today’s Health Care Challenges with AHA Leaders Stacey Hughes and Ashley Thompson /news/chairpersons-file/2025-01-27-chair-file-leadership-dialogue-tackling-todays-health-care-challenges-aha-leaders-stacey There is so much for health care leaders to navigate when it comes to public policy and government relations. Thankfully, the AHA has an expert team with extensive experience who are advocating for the field and here to listen and help.Stacey Hughes, AHA executive vice president of government relations and public policy, and Ashley Thompson, AHA senior vice president of public policy analysis and development, are two dynamic leaders with a deep bench of expertise on their teams. They are all in for 2025 and here with insights and information to help you face today’s challenges.Stacey and Ashley joined me for the first 2025 AHA Leadership Dialogue to discuss key issues in health care and how the AHA is working on many fronts to support hospitals and health systems so they can provide the best care to patients and communities.I hope you find our conversation insightful and gain new knowledge of how the AHA is here to support members. Look for future conversations with health care, business and community leaders on making health better as part of the Chair File in 2025.<hr><hr><div></div><hr><div class="raw-html-embed"> <details class="transcript"> <summary> <h2 title="Click here to open/close the transcript."> View Transcript &nbsp; </h2> </summary> 00:00:00:20 - 00:00:29:13 Tom Haederle Welcome to Advancing Health - and to the first Leadership Dialogue of the year - hosted by the �� Association's 2025 Board Chair, Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of Corewell Health. Today, two senior AHA leaders join Tina to discuss key issues in health care and how the AHA is working on many fronts to support hospitals and health systems so they can provide the best care to patients and communities. 00:00:29:15 - 00:00:56:10 Tina Freese Decker Hello and thank you everyone for joining us today. In 2025, the �� Association is all in in tackling the challenges that are facing health care today. I am looking forward to using this Leadership Dialogue series to highlight the incredible ways the �� Association and our member hospitals and health systems are making health better. My name is Tina Freese Decker, and I'm the president and CEO of Corewell Health 00:00:56:12 - 00:01:23:05 Tina Freese Decker and the 2025 �� Association board chair. As we kick off this new year, I want to start by introducing you to a few amazing leaders within the �� Association who will help us navigate the year ahead. The �� Association is here to help remove those barriers so as hospitals and health systems, we can provide the very best care to our patients and communities. 00:01:23:07 - 00:01:45:04 Tina Freese Decker So today, while we don't have all the time to meet the full AHA team, I'm so excited to introduce you to Stacy Hughes and Ashley Thompson, two fantastic individuals who lead the AHA's government relations and public policy work. One of the things that gives me the most confidence in our approach is when I listen and I talk with them. 00:01:45:07 - 00:02:02:23 Tina Freese Decker So I thought it would be really beneficial for all of you, our members, to hear from them. So let's begin. So Stacy and Ashley, welcome. So glad to see you today. Let's start with some introductions and share what you do with the �� Association. Stacy? 00:02:02:25 - 00:02:21:05 Stacey Hughes Sure. Thank you for this opportunity. We're so excited about your year ahead and working with you. And we're really appreciative of having a chance to showcase a little bit about what our team is up to. But I'm Stacy Hughes. I'm executive vice president in the D.C. office and oversee regulatory policy, federal relations PAC, and some of our communication efforts. 00:02:21:08 - 00:02:25:06 Stacey Hughes Have a great team here. And we're going to talk more about that. But that's my role here, Tina. 00:02:25:14 - 00:02:26:28 Tina Freese Decker Thank you. Ashley? 00:02:27:00 - 00:02:50:00 Ashley Thompson Thank you, Tina, so much for giving us this opportunity and for your leadership on the board in the past and especially this year as chair. I'm Ashley Thompson. I'm the senior vice president of policy here at AHA. I lead a team of about 24 very amazing, talented individuals. The work that we do is really on behalf of hospitals and the patients they serve. 00:02:50:03 - 00:03:10:11 Tina Freese Decker As we think about the work ahead of us this year, I also want to learn more about what you and your teams are doing. So the �� Association is a bipartisan organization, and we work with all lawmakers to advance the issues that mean the most to us as hospitals and health systems. So, Stacy, tell us about the team that you lead. 00:03:10:14 - 00:03:17:10 Tina Freese Decker The depth of expertise and their balance and how your team is preparing for this new administration in Congress. 00:03:17:12 - 00:03:36:03 Stacey Hughes Sure. And I couldn't be more proud to be honest with you. And I have to say, you know, I give Rick and others a such a shout out for the legacy, you know, Ashley says she's here 23 years, I'm starting year five. Boy, both what I inherited as a team that were here day one, and then how we've grown as people have, you know, rolled off or changed jobs. 00:03:36:05 - 00:04:01:12 Stacey Hughes It is solid. We've got, you know, lobbyists that have all worked largely on Capitol Hill or they were deeply, deeply immersed in the issues that are critical to hospitals. I'll ask you to talk about the policy team that we work on together. We've got such currency politically with the lobbyists that are on the team. Our colleagues and my colleagues, Lisa Kidder, she's been here 20 years. Amy Kuhlman, there's no one better than Amy in terms of leading our lobbyist team. 00:04:01:12 - 00:04:24:17 Stacey Hughes So both their experience actually on the Hill, writing bills, knowing all the member offices. You know, we cover every single office here, you know, House and Senate. That's a lot to say Grace over. In terms of preparing, obviously this is a unified town now, it's a Republican town. We had a bit of a sweep. So we're busy getting ready to look at how we frame our issues with a very specific audience. 00:04:24:19 - 00:04:44:10 Stacey Hughes But in addition, Tina, as you know, this is a pretty sweeping election in terms of retirements. There are 14 new Senate freshmen between Republicans and Democrats. There are about 55 new freshmen House members. So a big part of what we're doing is educating them early and often. Lisa and Amy and others are putting together a 101 of hospital issues. 00:04:44:16 - 00:05:00:09 Stacey Hughes They understand our field immediately and early, and be a resource for them. So everyone is readying for what is going to be. And then we'll talk more about what the year ahead, what the expectations are. But it's a lot. And we are excited that the team is ready, but they have great skills. 00:05:00:09 - 00:05:04:20 Stacey Hughes And, couldn't be more proud to be collaborating with them and leading them. 00:05:04:23 - 00:05:14:25 Tina Freese Decker And as you do that education, are our lawmakers interested in health care? Are they appreciative of the education, the orientation and the one on one that we provide? And when we show up. 00:05:14:28 - 00:05:31:24 Stacey Hughes They are and, you know, we're in the process of so getting out some of our very specific every congressional districts or what that hospital footprint looks like, you know, who's in your backyard, how many jobs are you providing that community? What is your role in the economic engine of that community? What are you doing in terms of serving that population? 00:05:31:24 - 00:05:48:28 Stacey Hughes And they are interested. I think that, you know, as you know, there are a lot of threats around the financing of hospital, particularly the burden on the federal government and debt. And so being able to bring it to life to them, what we're really doing with limited resources and our contribution to communities, 00:05:48:28 - 00:06:03:25 Stacey Hughes they do appreciate it. And particularly the role we play in terms of our jobs and their district. But it takes time. You know, you really have to tell the story, go to make sure you invest in that time. You always want to know your members before you need them. And I think that's important. 00:06:03:27 - 00:06:16:00 Tina Freese Decker Ashley, I'd like to ask you the same question. So share a quick overview with us of some of the issue areas of policy expertise that you have amongst your team members, and what's the one thing your team is gearing up for this year that you can share with us? 00:06:16:02 - 00:06:42:09 Ashley Thompson Well, like Stacey, I am so proud of the policy team. Many of the individuals, I think there are 24 of them, have been here for a very long time. They are true issue area experts. They are smart, they are talented, they are motivated. And I will say that they really want to improve health and health care in America and get hospitals, the resources that they need to really care for their patients. 00:06:42:11 - 00:07:09:03 Ashley Thompson We are kind of divided into four areas. So we have Medicare payment, coverage, quality and patient safety, and data and research are kind of the big buckets. But underneath them we tackle probably any issue that hospitals deal with. We have experts on AI, we have experts on prior authorization. We have experts on quality. So it's really a diverse group. 00:07:09:06 - 00:07:27:09 Ashley Thompson I would say that it's really hard to pick the one issue that they're going to be dealing with this year. I think that there's probably four that are most important. And Stacey and I have been working on this together with others across the association. I think one of them is to protect Medicaid and its enrollees. 00:07:27:09 - 00:07:49:16 Ashley Thompson I think the second one is to ensure what we call the marketplace premium tax credits continue after the end of this year. About 10 million people have gotten coverage due to those tax credits, and we don't want them to lose coverage. The third area is to make sure that hospitals are not subjected to site neutral payments. 00:07:49:18 - 00:08:09:12 Ashley Thompson And then I'd say the fourth area is probably protecting 340B, which is the drug pricing program. So those are definitely on our radar. But it goes beyond that. There are so many issues, I think our advocacy agenda came out this week. I haven't counted there's probably 75 plus issues that we are actively working. 00:08:09:14 - 00:08:34:21 Tina Freese Decker And we're so appreciative of kind of highlighting the main areas that we need to focus on, but then understanding that as hospitals and health systems, we're not all alike and there are different issues that come up that we need to navigate as we move forward. Again, what I am so proud of is your team, both of your teams, really have the expertise and the experience to help tackle this and guide us as members as we move forward. 00:08:34:23 - 00:08:56:08 Tina Freese Decker You know, there's also a much broader team at �� Association that's supporting the work of our field &nbsp;- from legal to communications to the quality of patient safety, field engagement. There's so many people that are ready to assist our members. So let's talk a bit about how our members and our leaders and our hospitals and our health systems might work with the �� Association on those issues. 00:08:56:11 - 00:09:13:02 Tina Freese Decker So, Stacy, can you tell us how your team engages with the members? And this time not the members of the Capitol Hill, but it's like hospitals and health systems. How can our hospital and health system leaders get more involved in advocacy efforts, and why is that important? 00:09:13:05 - 00:09:31:26 Stacey Hughes Sure. Well, first and foremost, you know, our teams are constantly working with our members. I know Ashley would say the same, whether it's policy or federal relations. And that's just in the everyday, just grind of learning how to address issues and learn from them in terms of what we actually advocate for, that's an ongoing thing. But to your point, there are a lot of different ways that we work with members. 00:09:31:26 - 00:09:51:09 Stacey Hughes One is through our government relations officer network. Certainly we work through our allieds, all the 50 state hospital executives, and is a huge partner for us in terms of our advocacy. But in terms of your of a hospital health system, main thing you can do is get to know your delegation. You know, I know you guys do this both obviously with your state, representatives and your state elected officials. 00:09:51:09 - 00:10:07:20 Stacey Hughes But on the federal side, really getting to know them and telling that story often. And also, don't be afraid to go to them and let them know when you have a problem. You really want to get them invested in your success. And it doesn't take much. And I think we all, going through Covid, we saw how much everyone does stand up. 00:10:07:20 - 00:10:25:00 Stacey Hughes They recognize the importance of making sure we have a sustainable, functioning hospital network and health systems. And so being sure to take that leap, give your member a call, get to know the staff and being willing to advocate. I mean, I will say, you know, we put out these advocacy alerts and, we try to be judicious. 00:10:25:00 - 00:10:45:00 Stacey Hughes We don't want to say "hair on fire" every day, but we do have a lot of challenges coming, Tina, as you know, in terms of all the pressures to address some of the deficit issues, mandatory programs like Medicare, Medicaid are the top drivers of the deficit and spending. So we have a lot coming up. But we really say when we do give a call to action, we really need it. 00:10:45:00 - 00:11:00:21 Stacey Hughes And in particular, if you know you have a member of Congress or senator that is uniquely positioned on committees of jurisdiction as well as leadership, you want to make sure there no daylight between what you're doing, what your needs are, and what they understand in terms of their education. 00:11:00:24 - 00:11:11:25 Tina Freese Decker Great advice. Thank you so much, Ashley. Similarly, are there examples of member engagement that you can speak to that have been particularly successful or impactful in influencing policy development? 00:11:11:28 - 00:11:38:24 Ashley Thompson Yeah, I actually think that one of the reasons why AHA is so successful is because of our policy development process. I think it's very unique. Through our committees and our regional policy board meetings, we touch probably 550 CEOs or C-suite leaders three times a year. And we bring to them, you know, our committees, our grouped by kind of type of hospital, whether you're rural or post-acute or whether you're behavioral health. 00:11:38:26 - 00:12:02:26 Ashley Thompson And then our regions are just what it says. We divide up by region and they weigh in on policy development. So they weigh in on what should we do about physician payment, what should we do about health care affordability? What should we do about the increase in medical debt? What should we do about X, Y, and Z? And it's a really a thoughtful, like iterative process. 00:12:02:29 - 00:12:39:24 Ashley Thompson We also have strategic leadership groups. We also have task forces that we staff on certain issues, whether it's principles or whether it's health care, the future. You know, what should we do about workforce issues? So we really rely on everyone to weigh in. And of course, our board of trustees. So we rely very heavily on our board. And thank you again for your chairmanship of it to help direct the association, to direct our policy positions, to direct what recommendations we come up with, and often to direct our strategy of how to achieve what we want in terms of outcomes. 00:12:39:24 - 00:12:59:11 Ashley Thompson And so I do think that AHA, and particularly probably the policy team given the work that we do, has a lot of connections and we really rely on that and we want to hear from our members and we want them to be active and engaged, because the more they communicate with us, the better we can represent them on Capitol Hill or with the administration. 00:12:59:13 - 00:13:28:16 Tina Freese Decker I completely agree, and one of the most impactful, stories that I have is when I took one of our lawmakers through our mental health area and just highlighted what we are doing well, but what we need their support in. And then you could see that happen with bills came up and things needed to be impacted. And so I'm sure that there are stories like that in every part of our organizations and our membership about how that personal touch is so incredibly important as we drive forward. 00:13:28:16 - 00:13:37:27 Tina Freese Decker All right. Are there any last comments, or thoughts on the year ahead that would be most helpful for you and your teams that you want to share with us? 00:13:38:00 - 00:14:02:21 Ashley Thompson I think it's going to be a very challenging year. I know that the AHA is going to be really working hard on behalf of our members, and I think that the team at is very motivated to do so. Very similar to employees in hospitals, or the staff in the hospitals. I think that we tend to rise when there's a crisis and we rise to that occasion. 00:14:02:21 - 00:14:24:08 Ashley Thompson And whether it's Covid or whether it was going to be repeal and replace of the ACA a few years ago, several years ago, or whether it's the Change Health care cyber event, I really think that AHA is here to serve its members, to get them through those hard times and to put them on a trajectory in the future. 00:14:24:08 - 00:14:35:13 Ashley Thompson And I want our members to know that this the staff team at AHA is really committed to doing so, to really making sure that you have the resources that you need in order to care for your patients. 00:14:35:15 - 00:14:44:00 Stacey Hughes Yeah, so well said. I would just add, you know, we think about the year, reflecting back between Change Healthcare, OneBlood supply in Florida and Baxter. 00:14:44:03 - 00:15:04:12 Stacey Hughes And that was just weeks ago, if you really think about it in terms of the need for the association with your leadership and others, Tina, to really jump in and problem solve quickly and mitigate those types of issues. But I'll just say going into the year, I think I've kind of beaten that drum a little bit. But you know, we are, as Ashley said, we are working so far, the policy team and others to bring forth data. 00:15:04:18 - 00:15:22:11 Stacey Hughes One of the ways that we win these battles is being able to tell a story with very specific data. We've got some pretty difficult issues, one of which is extending the ACA subsidies, I think Ashley mentioned. Knowing what that looks like to your hospital. How does it affect your bottom line? How does it affect patients? How does it affect the insurance coverage? 00:15:22:11 - 00:15:45:18 Stacey Hughes I think that's true for Medicaid. So when we put all this stuff together, really would encourage everyone or field to take that information and help tell the story and amplify as much as we can. We'll do all the work for you in terms of making sure that we get you guys what you need to be able to understand the implications of some of these policies, but really just, welcome everyone's ability to engage with their members of Congress. 00:15:45:18 - 00:15:49:10 Stacey Hughes So, that's my final note, I would say, Tina, in terms of the year ahead. 00:15:49:13 - 00:16:12:15 Tina Freese Decker That's perfect. So thank you so much for your time today. And I really enjoy working with you and working with your teams. As you both said: the AHA teams are all in, we're ready to go. We're excited, we're passionate. This is you know what gets us up in the morning moving forward. And we need that partnership with our member hospitals and health systems to make sure we have the data and the stories and the connection there. 00:16:12:18 - 00:16:33:05 Tina Freese Decker So it really takes this whole ecosystem to come together to make an impact and to make an impact for policies, the regulations that are coming forth, most importantly, so we can do an even better job taking care of our communities and improving health. And so we're so grateful for all the work that you and your teams are doing at the �� Association. 00:16:33:08 - 00:16:50:11 Tina Freese Decker I know that it's going to be a tough year but with the focus and the energy, I think we can accomplish a lot of things. So thank you so much. To all of our members listening in, thank you so much for joining us today. And we'll be back next month for another Leadership Dialogue conversation. 00:16:50:13 - 00:16:58:24 Tom Haederle Thanks for listening to Advancing Health. Please subscribe and rate us five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. </details> </div> Mon, 27 Jan 2025 09:40:27 -0600 Chairperson's File Chair File Video: Meet 2025 AHA Board Chair Tina Freese Decker /news/chairpersons-file/2025-01-14-chair-file-video-meet-2025-aha-board-chair-tina-freese-decker From making pizzas to leading an integrated health system, Tina Freese Decker’s career has focused on a connection to people and serving others. She is president and CEO of Corewell Health, a Michigan-based leading integrated health system with more than 60,000 team members providing excellent health care and coverage to millions of people.As AHA chair, Tina is committed to ensuring you as members feel heard, listened to and supported through the AHA so we can do what we do best: providing the very best care to our patients and to our communities.Watch this video to learn more about Tina and how the AHA is all in for 2025 as we make health better, together.<hr> Tue, 14 Jan 2025 13:46:42 -0600 Chairperson's File Leadership Dialogue — Assessing Health Care Challenges and Successes With Tina Freese Decker, President and CEO of Corewell Health /news/chairpersons-file/2024-12-16-leadership-dialogue-assessing-health-care-challenges-and-successes-tina-freese-decker In this Leadership Dialogue — my last one as AHA board chair — I talk with Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of Corewell Health, an integrated, not-for-profit health system headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., and serving the entire state. Tina will be taking the reins as chair of the AHA Board of Trustees in 2025.Tina and I reflect on the past year in health care and look ahead to next year. Tina observes: “It’s essential that we continue to be focused and invested in our team — that we invest in the systems, technologies and platforms so that our team can do what they do best and that we’re focused on doing what matters most. Ultimately, we’re here to serve our neighbors and everyone in our community, and they’re counting on us to do that.”Best wishes to all for a happy holiday season and a healthy and peaceful 2025.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJmBETVQOc0">Watch the episode.</a>&nbsp;<hr><div></div> Mon, 16 Dec 2024 08:16:44 -0600 Chairperson's File Chair File: Hospitals’ Unwavering Work and Commitment to Advance Health in America /news/chairpersons-file/2024-12-09-hospitals-unwavering-work-and-commitment-advance-health-america Each and every hospital and health system across the country has powerful and inspiring stories of hope, healing and health to tell.That’s because the people working at America’s hospitals are always there, providing 24/7 lifesaving and emergency care to every person who comes through their doors. They deliver world-class, convenient and accessible care to keep patients healthy and partner with communities to address the social drivers of health.&nbsp;Miracles happen every day in our hospitals and in our communities because of the amazing work and dedication of health care teams and community partners.This year, while serving as chair of the AHA Board of Trustees, I’ve had the privilege to travel across the nation and talk with many hospital and health system leaders who are advancing health for patients and communities through research, innovation and just plain roll-up-your-sleeves hard work. Their stories are inspiring, heartening and motivating.&nbsp;At the same time, we know that our health care system and our country continue to face many challenges. The costs of labor, drugs and supplies continue to strain resources at many hospitals and health systems. Ongoing workforce shortages persist, and reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid don’t cover the costs of providing care. Excessive regulatory requirements and actions by commercial insurance companies make it harder for providers to deliver necessary, convenient and coordinated care to patients.We have made progress on many of these issues this year —&nbsp;see the <a href="/system/files?file=media/file/2024/10/The-Value-of-AHA-Membership-October-2024.pdf" target="_blank" title="AHA Value of Membership Report 2024">AHA’s 2024 Value of Membership report</a> for some highlights. But we also know that there is much more work to do on these issues, and many more, in 2025 and beyond.It has been an honor serving as AHA board chair this year, and I appreciate the trust you’ve placed in me in this leadership role. As I pass the torch, please join me in welcoming Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of Corewell Health, as the 2025 chair. Tina is a strong and inspiring leader, and I look forward to supporting her in the year ahead.Sir Winston Churchill said, “Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.” Hospitals and health systems across the U.S. are vital to ensuring the health and well-being of individuals, families and communities. In an ever-changing landscape, our collective commitment to advance health in America is unwavering. Our stories are America’s stories of hope, healing and health that happen every hour of every day at every hospital and health system. As 2024 draws to a close, we can be proud of the work we do to honor our legacy and inspire our future. Mon, 09 Dec 2024 10:38:32 -0600 Chairperson's File Chair File: Supporting the Board’s Pivotal Role in Advancing Health /news/chairpersons-file/2024-12-02-chair-file-supporting-boards-pivotal-role-advancing-health As the health care field has evolved, so has health care governance. Besides fulfilling traditional fiduciary responsibilities like approving budgets, today’s hospital and health system board members are collaborating with leadership to address workforce shortages, recommend ways to mitigate cybersecurity risks, discuss the pros and cons of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, and provide strategic guidance on quality, safety and many other critical issues.I’ve seen firsthand that effective board members care deeply about the role of hospitals and health systems, not only in providing quality care to patients and families but also in serving their communities. Serving on a board is an awesome responsibility that requires a commitment of time and talent and a fierce sense of duty. In turn, it’s the responsibility of hospital leadership to build a strong board and support board members so they are knowledgeable about the organization and the entire health care field.Strong boards are diverse — in gender, age, race, experience and expertise — and reflect the communities they serve. Strong boards foster a culture that encourages members to discuss their different experiences and perspectives and to leverage those differences toward shared goals and solutions. These boards also prioritize continuous learning about the organization, the health needs of the community and the complex issues in health care.The AHA supports good governance and offers an array of resources for hospital leadership teams, covering everything from <a href="https://trustees.aha.org/boardroom-101" target="_blank" title="AHA Trustee Services Boardroom 101: Key Strategies and Practical Tools for Orienting New Board Members">orienting new board members</a> to the <a href="/news/blog/2023-11-08-boards-role-quality-oversight-and-patient-safety">board’s role in quality and patient safety</a> to building a <a href="https://trustees.aha.org/building-governing-board-strategy-diversity-and-health-equity" target="_blank" title="AHA Trustee Services: Building a Governing Board Strategy on Diversity and Health Equity">governing board strategy on diversity and health equity</a>. <a href="https://trustees.aha.org/" target="_blank" title="AHA Trustee Services homepage">AHA Trustee Services</a> serves as the hub for efforts to help hospital and health system leaders and board members navigate the transforming health care landscape.Boards play a pivotal role in ensuring a health care organization’s strategies and budgets result in actions that drive performance, impact and measurable progress. I applaud those who currently serve or have served on a hospital or health system board at the smallest community hospitals to the biggest urban medical centers. Thank you for your dedication and work in helping advance health and health care for patients and families. Great boards are the backbone of our success. Mon, 02 Dec 2024 11:30:31 -0600 Chairperson's File