/ en Fri, 25 Apr 2025 14:51:46 -0500 Fri, 07 Mar 25 08:21:12 -0600 /news/headline/2024-04-15-rick-pollack-kicks-2024-annual-meeting <p>AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack began AHA’s 2024 Annual Meeting remarking on the essential work of hospitals and health systems, as well as the many challenges they are facing, including workforce shortages, underpayment, supply chain issues and cyberattacks.  </p><p>The key to facing these challenges, Pollack said, is to educate policymakers, especially in an election year, about the many obstacles hospitals face. He encouraged members to use AHA’s We Care, We Vote initiative to encourage elected officials and candidates to support legislation and policies that protect patients’ access to care.  </p><p>Though current circumstances are difficult, Pollack reminded attendees that the work of hospitals and health system is vital to the country and that there is hope. “Our communities are counting on us to meet this moment,” he said. “And they are counting on us to help create a better future for health care in our country.” </p> Mon, 15 Apr 2024 15:55:27 -0500 AHA Annual Membership Meeting /news/perspective/2025-03-07-unity-purpose-and-resolve-will-drive-ahas-2025-annual-membership-meeting <p>We look forward to welcoming hospital and health system leaders to our <a href="/education-events/2025-aha-annual-membership-meeting" target="_blank" title="2025 AHA Annual Membership Meeting website">2025 AHA Annual Membership Meeting</a> in Washington, D.C., in less than two months.</p><p>While the meeting venue will be familiar to attendees who have participated in the conference recently, make no mistake, our nation’s capital is a very different place than it was last year. With new leadership and a new agenda in Washington, the stakes are high as there are a number of opportunities and challenges coming at hospitals and health systems.</p><p><strong>Our top priorities are clear. We must ensure continued access to health coverage for vulnerable populations and the financial sustainability of hospitals and health systems so they can deliver the care that people and communities depend on.</strong></p><p>At the top of the list this is preventing potentially devastating cuts to the Medicaid program and extending the enhanced premium tax credits — which expire at the end of this year — so that millions of low- and-middle-income individuals can purchase affordable private insurance on the health care exchanges. As you know, we are putting on a <a href="/news/perspective/2025-02-28-full-court-press-protect-access-care-patients-and-communities" target="_blank">full court press</a> to prevent potential cuts to Medicaid, which is a lifeline for not only providing access to so many vulnerable people — from children and babies to the disabled, veterans, seniors and nursing home patients — but also to so many hard working, low-income folks, whether they are farmers, ranchers or single moms.</p><p>Other priorities for supporting the financial health of hospitals and their ability to care for patients include protecting the 340B Drug Pricing Program that requires drug companies to provide certain hospitals with discounted prices when buying outpatient medicines, and preventing so-called Medicare site-neutral payment policies, which if implemented would reduce access to critical health care services, especially in rural and other underserved communities.</p><p>These steps to protect access to care are also fundamental to our work to address disparities in health outcomes. This work ensures the highest quality of care for all patients in every community.</p><p>The stories of our patients’ and caregivers’ challenges are central to our message. For all of these issues and many others, we need to make the case to our lawmakers about the real-world impact their proposals would have on the people and communities they represent.  </p><p>That’s why this year’s Annual Membership Meeting, perhaps more so than any other in recent years, is so pivotal. It’s an important opportunity for us to unite and deliver a powerful message to lawmakers as we continue to make the case for protecting the ability of hospitals and health systems to deliver the care patients and communities depend on.</p><p>We are putting finishing touches on the final program for the meeting, but you can count on insightful conversations with top policymakers, legislators and thought leaders on the most pressing issues facing our field and our country. You’ll also have the opportunity to connect with colleagues from across the nation to share strategies on innovative efforts that are transforming the way we deliver care to patients and communities.</p><p>We hope you can <a href="https://annualmeeting.aha.org/registration" target="_blank" title="2025 Annual Membership Meeting registration">join us</a> May 4 – 6 and be a part of the important story we must tell. It’s about highlighting the tremendous work caregivers do every hour of every day, preserving access to the 24/7 care and services that only hospitals and health systems provide, and protecting the special role hospitals and health systems play as cornerstones of their communities throughout the country.</p><p>With so much at stake in the coming weeks and months, it is vital that we continue to face health care’s challenges together, speaking as one voice to protect the blue and white “H” that is a beacon of health, healing and hope in every community across the nation.</p><p>As AHA’s 2025 Board Chair Tina Freese Decker reminds us, “We can do hard things.” Our field has risen to meet many difficult challenges before, and we can do it again as we navigate through these new threats and continue to work to advance health in America. </p> Fri, 07 Mar 2025 08:21:12 -0600 AHA Annual Membership Meeting /news/headline/2025-01-24-early-registration-continues-2025-aha-annual-membership-meeting <p>Early-bird registration for the 2025 Annual Membership Meeting remains available until March 3. The event will be held May 4-6 in Washington, D.C., where policymakers, legislators and thought leaders will discuss the most pressing issues facing hospitals and health systems. <a href="https://annualmeeting.aha.org/">REGISTER NOW</a><br> </p> Fri, 24 Jan 2025 14:36:02 -0600 AHA Annual Membership Meeting /education-events/2025-aha-annual-membership-meeting <p><strong>Don’t miss your chance to influence policy and advocate for patients, caregivers, and communities. AHA’s Annual Membership Meeting is the nation’s leading conference for hospital and health system leaders advancing health in America.</strong></p><p>Join us in the nation’s capital May 4-6, 2025, for insightful conversations with policymakers, legislators, and thought leaders on the most pressing issues facing our field. You’ll connect with the decision makers who create, shape, and implement health care policy and influence the political landscape. With a focus on AHA’s key advocacy priorities, these three days of programming will give you what you need to make your voice heard on the Hill.</p><p><strong>Who Will Be There?</strong></p><p>More than 1,000 hospital and health system leaders will gather to discuss advocacy, regulatory, and legislative issues affecting the nation’s hospitals, patients, and communities, including:</p><ul><li>Presidents, CEOs, Administrators</li><li>C-suite Executives, Senior VPs, VPs</li><li>State, Regional, Metro Hospital Association Executives and Staff</li><li>Government Relations Staff</li><li>Governing Board Members, Trustees</li></ul><p><strong>Registration opens January 2025!</strong></p><p>Health Care Provider, AHA Organizational Member </p><ul><li>Early Bird Rate! Register by March 3, 2025: $795</li><li>Regular Rate: $895</li></ul><p>Health Care Provider, Non-Member of the AHA: $1,500<br>Associations and Health Care Groups: $1,500</p><p>Solution Providers:  Only <a href="https://sponsors.aha.org/HFC-Sponsor-16646-Annual-Meeting-2025_HFC-Sponsor-Annual-Meeting-2025.html" target="_blank">Sponsors</a> and <a href="https://sponsor.aha.org/associate-program" target="_blank">AHA Associates</a> can participate in the AHA Annual Membership Meeting. </p> Tue, 05 Nov 2024 15:19:00 -0600 AHA Annual Membership Meeting /news/perspective/2024-04-19-working-together-advance-health-and-build-better-future <p>Stand up. Speak out. Be heard. The stakes for the future of health care are too high to do anything less. </p><p>That was a key message for the approximately 1,000 health care leaders who attended the AHA’s 2024 Annual Membership Meeting, which wrapped up this week in Washington, D.C. (You can watch video highlights <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNSCvwPZ8vo" target="_blank" title="Annual Meeting Highlights Video">here</a> and view coverage from the meeting <a href="/annual-aha-membership-meeting-news-coverage" target="_blank">here</a>.)</p><p>The event is among the nation’s leading forums for providing health care executives opportunities to learn from top thought leaders in Washington; connect with colleagues from across the country who are leading efforts to transform the way care is delivered; and influence the political landscape as we advocate for policies to support patients, caregivers and communities.</p><p>This year, there was special focus on educating policymakers that our health care system is suffering from <em>multiple chronic conditions. </em>These include continued government underpayment, cyberattacks, workforce shortages, broken supply chains, access to behavioral health, and irresponsible behavior by corporate commercial health insurance companies, among others — that put access to services in serious jeopardy.</p><p>Many might add dysfunction in Congress to the list of chronic conditions, so it was heartening to hear senior members of both parties express bipartisan support for the unique and irreplaceable role that hospitals and health systems play in the communities they serve.</p><p>For example, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the No. 2 ranking senators of their respective parties, shared broad agreement in their remarks on effective tactics health leaders can use to ensure our voices are heard. </p><p><u>First</u>, stay engaged. Keep up on the issues and do all you can to get people registered to vote. This is simply good citizenship, and we need more of it.</p><p><u>Second</u>, advocating in person is powerful. This doesn’t mean only face-to-face in Washington, but opportunities to advocate for the support our field needs can present anywhere, at a town council meeting or in the lobby of your hospital. Be ready to share powerful stories of the impact of your work.</p><p><u>Third</u>, explain problems but also be practical and bring solutions. </p><p>Throughout the meeting, we asked hospital leaders to carry four key messages to Capitol Hill as they met with their elected representatives: 1) Reject funding cuts for hospital services and extend policies to ensure patients’ access to care; 2) Support and strengthen the health care workforce; 3) Hold corporate commercial insurers accountable for practices that deny, delay and disrupt care; and 4) Bolster support to enhance cybersecurity of hospitals and the entire health care system.</p><p>The AHA, working with our members and other stakeholders, has developed solutions to help achieve every one of these goals and provided you with some of the tools to have an impact.</p><p>Please use our <a href="/advocacy/action-center?" target="_blank" title="AHA Advocacy Resources">advocacy resources</a> to help you in conversations with your lawmakers. Also, please access our <a href="https://wecarewevote.aha.org" target="_blank" title="We care We Vote Web Page">We Care, We Vote materials</a> to use with elected officials and candidates running for office this year, as well as other resources to make sure our field’s voice is heard in the political process. </p><p>Our work is unfinished, and we will face obstacles. But we also know that the teamwork, commitment and determination is there to meet the moment and overcome the challenges we face.</p><p>We will not waver from our mission of advancing health for all…step-by-step and brick-by-brick…because we care about the communities we serve. Our work together will stand the test of time in building a better future.</p> Fri, 19 Apr 2024 16:08:34 -0500 AHA Annual Membership Meeting /news/headline/2024-04-16-health-care-leaders-examine-prior-authorization-policies <p>Challenging prior authorization policy requirements were addressed in an AHA Annual Membership Meeting panel discussion moderated by Marilyn Werber Serafini, executive director for the Health Program at the Bipartisan Policy Center.<br><br>Shikha Jain, M.D., Department of Hematology & Oncology, UI Health, who appeared in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000009345904/health-insurance-prior-authorization.html">recent New York Times video</a> about prior authorization, said some commercial insurance practices, including prior authorization, lead to care delays, administrative burdens on hospitals, health systems and physician practices, as well as physician burnout. Ruby Kirby, CEO of Bolivar-Camden General Hospital in Tennessee, and Kurt Barwis, president and CEO of Bristol Health in Connecticut and AHA board member, spoke on how prior authorization has impeded their ability to provide adequate and timely care for their patients.<br><br>Initial denials for care authorization have grown over 40% since 2020, said Matthew Szaflarski, Revenue Cycle Intelligence Leader at Kodiak Solutions. Rachel Schwab, assistant research professor at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms, discussed programs and policies that some states are beginning to pursue in an attempt to reduce the burdens of prior authorization, including improved transparency, extended prior authorization approval lengths of time and carry-over if the patient changes insurance plans, or provider “gold carding” for those with high rates of prior authorization that would exempt them from prior authorization requirements for certain medicines or procedures.<br><br>“In a clinic of 20 patients, let's say at least five to eight of them are going to need prior authorizations for either imaging or drugs,” Jain said. “And with the patients we treat at University of Illinois, we treat a population that oftentimes comes to see a doctor when they have advanced disease. So, for them, it's an even bigger clinical impact when starting therapy, or getting imaging is delayed. But if the cancer treatment is delayed, … it's absolutely devastating.”<br><br>“The idea of prior authorization was a good one, but it’s not doing what it was intended to do,” said Jain.<br> </p> Tue, 16 Apr 2024 14:11:47 -0500 AHA Annual Membership Meeting /news/headline/2024-04-16-health-care-leaders-discuss-ways-effectively-engage-legislators <p>It's always important to bring the issue back to the patient, said Sarah Lechner, senior vice president and chief of external affairs for Hackensack Meridian Health, during a Q&A about building relationships with elected officials when advocating for hospitals and health systems at AHA's 2024 Annual Meeting April 14-16. Lechner, along with Jeremy Nordquist, president of the Nebraska Hospital Association, said early engagement, hosting site visits, crafting tailored messages with specific asks, and being reciprocal are key elements to establishing effective relationships with legislators.<br><br>"It has to start as early as possible," Nordquist said. "Politicians make decisions on a lot of different factors when it comes to help with [favorable] votes. … So, spending time working on yourself, and certainly working with your state associations to think through who and how you can plug in to people who are in office."<br> </p> Tue, 16 Apr 2024 14:10:03 -0500 AHA Annual Membership Meeting /news/headline/2024-04-16-cdc-director-talks-hospitals-role-safeguarding-nation-next-pandemic <p>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Mandy Cohen, M.D., April 16 shared with attendees of AHA’s 2024 Annual Membership Meeting how her team is preparing the nation for the next public health emergency, highlighting how hospitals’ ability to provide the CDC with timely data is already positioning the nation for future success.</p><p>“We need to put lessons learned from the pandemic into action — approach protecting health as a team sport and knit together health systems and public health with integrated data systems,” Cohen said. “Data powers our ability to see emerging health threats. We can continue to make progress by optimizing syndromic surveillance, accelerating adoption and maturation of FHIR [Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources], and participating in TEFCA [the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement].”</p><p>Cohen said partnerships between hospitals and public health agencies are critical for CDC addressing its current priorities (readiness and response and data visibility; mental health and overdose prevention; and supporting young families). The director urged hospitals to share compelling stories on the importance of a strong public health infrastructure and to introduce public health data and tools into medical training. </p> Tue, 16 Apr 2024 14:09:34 -0500 AHA Annual Membership Meeting /news/headline/2024-04-16-hhs-deputy-secretary-palm-discusses-change-healthcare-attack-and-future-cybersecurity <p>Department of Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm addressed AHA Annual Membership Meeting attendees about the Administration’s work to improve access to care and increase the number of people with health insurance, as well as the Change Healthcare cyberattack and what cybersecurity looks like in the future.<br><br>“We’ve been in a live fire exercise recently and are learning lessons that inform the ways we will move forward,” she said. “These attacks happen — it’s not an if; it’s a when.”<br><br>HHS in January released cybersecurity performance goals for the health care sector, and Palm discussed the ways the Administration intends to support hospitals and health systems as they adopt best practices when it comes to protecting patients’ information and hospital networks as a whole. She specifically mentioned supporting rural hospitals, which may not have the resources to reach the goals on their own.<br><br>Palm also said that while the worst of the cyberattack on Change Healthcare may be over, HHS will continue to support hospitals and health systems as they recover. “We know the burden is easing, but we will continue to stay connected until everything is 100% operational.”<br><br>Palm emphasized that it also presented opportunities to learn, analyze and prepare for the next attack.<br><br>“There’s a ton of work for us to continue to do together,” she said. “I am excited to do that work with you and improve the health and well-being of people in this country.”<br> </p> Tue, 16 Apr 2024 14:09:00 -0500 AHA Annual Membership Meeting /news/headline/2024-04-16-reps-wenstrup-bucshon-and-kildee-talk-current-state-congress-look-back-congressional-careers <p>Three retiring members of Congress — Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, Larry Bucshon, R-Ind., and Dan Kildee, D-Mich. — engaged in a genial conversation that covered the current state of Congress, as well as what they view as the major issues and possible solutions facing health care.<br><br>Bucshon addressed the problems of high costs not only in health care, but in health care education and how it leads to some communities being underserved, particularly in the field of primary care.<br><br>Kildee spoke on the importance of access to health care, particularly when it comes to primary care providers, noting that “access doesn’t just mean insurance.”<br><br>The conversation also covered the overall atmosphere in the current Congress. “The majority of people have come [to Washington] to work hard and perform,” said Wenstrup. “And then there are those who come to perform. I wish the media would focus more on the members of Congress who get things across the finish line.”<br><br>Kildee agreed. “Bipartisanship exists, but it’s not celebrated,” he said. “Do not confuse disagreement with dysfunction.”</p> Tue, 16 Apr 2024 14:07:00 -0500 AHA Annual Membership Meeting