AHA Stat Blog

The opioid epidemic’s grip on our communities continues to be a major challenge. At the same time, we also see progress in addressing the problem. 

Having options is good. Having options when it comes to health care is essential. Patients need the flexibility to get the treatment they need in the setting that’s most appropriate and convenient for them. But a recent proposal by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services could jeopardize patients’ access to convenient care. 

In times of distress, Americans turn to hospital emergency departments. They do so because they know that there they will find care – from simple stitches to sophisticated diagnostics to emergency surgery. And they know that, no matter what, they will not be turned away.

AHA Chief Medical Officer Jay Bhatt, D.O. highlights two podcasts from the AHA Physician Alliance series in which Allen Weiss, M.D., president and CEO of NCH Healthcare System in Naples, Fla., and Christine Stabler, M.D., vice president for academic affairs, Lancaster Health in Lancaster, Pa., discuss the importance of partnerships and thinking outside the box in order to improve the health of individuals and communities.

The AHA offers comprehensive cybersecurity resources and risk advisory services for hospital and health systems leaders.

Our thoughts are with the women and men of the hospitals in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia now, and in the days to come, as they deal with this massive storm and its aftermath.

The AHA is opening a new chapter in advancing health in America.

There is a lot of focus today on health care costs, and what can be done to contain them. One sure-fire strategy? Reduce the regulatory burden that is drowning providers in red tape and adding costs to the system.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) released yet another “report” in an obvious attempt to divert attention away from a problem of their own making: skyrocketing drug prices.

A recent article in the New York Times, “A Little-Known Windfall for Some Hospitals, Now Facing Big Cuts,” gives a thoroughly inaccurate and misleading view of the 340B Drug Pricing Program.

The health care community’s efforts alone are not enough to stem the tide of the opioid epidemic. We need more help from the federal government.

Using and building analytic tools to improve quality of care, focusing on diversity and inclusion, and partnering with patients, families, and communities: All are part of the quality commitment at Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) in Annapolis, Md., and Aurora Health Care (now Advocate Aurora Health) in Milwaukee, both finalists for the 2018 AHA Quest for Quality Prize.

St. Louis Children’s Hospital launched the Healthy Kids Express Asthma Program in 2009 to address the number 1 diagnosis in the St. Louis public school district and number 1 reason for students missing school.

Every site of care is not the same – they don’t all offer the same level of care or have the ability to treat the same types of patients.

The work of building a successful dyad requires true partnership. 

Join me in congratulating Navicent Health, recipient of the 2018 Equity of Care Award at the AHA Leadership Summit in late July.

We need our government partners to step up and help reduce costs – especially the costs related to the heavy administrative burden faced by health care providers, costs unrelated to delivering patient care.  

Comparing hospital prices to drug prices is absurd. And although the article claims to be about prices, the chart actually shows National Health Expenditure (NHE) spending numbers, not prices.

Four health systems are working together to meet the behavioral health needs of patients in Portland, Oregon.