The hospital board and physicians, plus more news for health system trustees
AHA Resources
Understanding board’s role in hospital–physician relations
The American Hospital Association's Center for Healthcare Governance invites hospital executives, board members, clinical leaders and others to view a three-part webinar to help health systems continually assess physician relationships and develop collaborative, mutually beneficial strategies for effective recruitment, retention, high-quality patient experiences and outcomes, clinical innovation and transition of leadership. The webinar addresses the board’s role throughout the continuum and is pre-recorded so it can be viewed by individuals or by full governing boards during board and committee meetings, retreats or orientation sessions. Contact the center at info@americangovernance.com.
Leadership
Health Forum and AHA to hold Leadership Summit
Writer David Brooks, basketball great Pat Riley and CNN’s Fareed Zakaria will be among the keynote speakers at the 24th annual Health Forum and American Hospital Association Leadership Summit July 17-19 in San Diego. The summit brings together leaders from hospitals and health systems to discuss ways to improve patient care as well as achieve financial and operational goals. Visit www.healthforum-edu.com/summit.
Coverage
CDC: 7.4 million fewer uninsured in 2015 in U.S.
An estimated 28.6 million U.S. residents lacked health insurance when surveyed in 2015, 7.4 million fewer than in 2014, according to a report released in May by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The proportion of residents who were uninsured when interviewed for the National Health Interview Survey fell 2.4 percentage points in 2015, to 9.1 percent from 11.5 percent in 2014. The uninsured rate for adults under age 65 fell 3.5 percentage points in Medicaid expansion states, compared with 2.1 percentage points in nonexpansion states. The report also includes estimates by Health Insurance Marketplace type and for various demographic groups. Visit www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.
Hospitals
Study: CAH surgical outcomes at least as good as others'
Medicare patients admitted to critical access hospitals for common surgical procedures are no more likely to die within 30 days than similar patients at other hospitals and have lower complication rates and expenditures, according to a study published in May in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The findings “contrast previously published literature about nonsurgical admissions in these same settings and inform legislators about the valuable role critical access hospitals provide in the U.S. health care system,” the authors said. Visit jama.jamanetwork.com.
Engineering
Improving the patient experience via the physical environment
A new guide from Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence in collaboration with the American Society for Healthcare Engineering explores ways hospital and health system leaders can use the physical environment of hospitals to improve the patient experience. The guide, Improving the Patient Experience Through the Health Care Physical Environment, includes case studies; a hospital leader checklist; a template for using the people, process and place model; a detailed table outlining eight domains of care measured by the HCAHPS survey with observed relationships to the physical environment; and additional resources list. Visit www.hpoe.org.
Pharmaceuticals
AHASTAT blog: Hospitals, 340B protect safety net
Hospitals, including those participating in the 340B Drug Pricing Program, are the true safety net, not the pharmaceutical industry with its “skyrocketing prescription drug prices and huge profits,” American Hospital Association Executive Vice President Tom Nickels wrote in an AHASTAT blog post May 17. Nickels noted that hospitals care for all patients regardless of their ability to pay and they have provided more than $500 billion in uncompensated care since 2000. He also highlighted that hospitals participating in the 340B program use savings from the program to “provide free or reduced-priced prescription drugs to poorer residents” and “reinvest in programs that enhance patient services and access to care.” Nickels cites various reports detailing the rapid spike in the costs of prescription drugs, including a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services report showing that prescription drug spending increased 12.6 percent in 2014. For more on the 340B program, visit www.aha.org/protect340B.