Rural health care leaders to meet in Phoenix
Conference
Rural health care leaders to meet in Phoenix next month
The American Hospital Association and Health Forum’s 2017 Rural Health Care Leadership Conference from Feb. 5 to 8 in Phoenix will bring together top practitioners and thinkers to share strategies and resources for accelerating the shift to a more integrated and sustainable rural health system. It will include a number of sessions that focus on governance issues, including the board’s role in the transition to new payment and delivery models. Visit www.healthforum-edu.com.
Senior care
AHA to help develop and test care model for older adults
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement will work with the AHA and others to develop and test a prototype to transform care for older adults. Using a $3.19 million grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation, the IHI and AHA will develop and test the Age-Friendly Health Systems prototype with four health systems that together serve older adults in 30 states: Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif; Trinity Health System in Steubenville, Ohio; Providence St. Joseph Health in Los Angeles; and Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Md. The goal is to spread an evidence-based prototype to 20 percent of hospitals by 2020. Visit www.johnahartford.org.
Data
CMS: Health spending grows 5.8 percent in 2015
U.S. spending on health care grew 5.8 percent in 2015, primarily because of increased use and intensity of services as millions gained health coverage, as well as continued significant growth in spending for retail prescription drugs, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported in December in Health Affairs. Spending for prescription drugs grew 9 percent, faster than any other service. Health care spending per person grew 5 percent overall, 4.5 percent for private health insurance, 1.7 percent for Medicare and 3.8 percent for Medicaid.
Community health
How is your hospital making the community healthier?
How is your hospital making your community stronger and healthier? The AHA invites hospital leaders to share their hospitals’ story and help highlight innovative efforts to improve health in America. To read stories, view videos and participate, visit www.advancinghealthinamerica.org.
Disparities
Take the pledge to foster equity in health care
More than 1,200 hospitals and health systems have already taken the #123forEquity pledge, which asks hospital and health system leaders to begin taking action to accelerate progress on increasing the collection and use of race, ethnicity, language preference and other socio-demographic data; increasing cultural competency training; and increasing diversity in leadership and governance. To learn more, visit www.equityofcare.org.
Safety
Hospitals help communities, employees cope with violence
In response to the need for community action programs such as those being undertaken by the nation’s hospitals and health systems to address violence and the toll it takes on communities and people who work in health care, the AHA has launched the Hospitals Against Violence webpage. It provides information on national, state and local efforts to help end violence in communities, and to help hospital employees cope with the impact of violence, whether at home, on the job or in their neighborhoods. Visit www.aha.org.
Web resource
Promising practices for patients with complex needs
Five health care foundations, the John A. Hartford Foundation, Peterson Center on Healthcare, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The SCAN Foundation and The Commonwealth Fund, have released an online resource on promising approaches to improving health outcomes for patients with complex medical, behavioral and social needs. Visit www.bettercareplaybook.org.