Care Delivery

Trustee talking points The 2014 birthrate for women ages 25 to 29 was 106 births per 1,000, just slightly higher than the rate of 101 per 1,000 women ages 30 to 34, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The only growth in U.S.
We’re four months away from the presidential election, and a lot of Americans are already worn down by the nastiness, name-calling and inanity. Those of us with a low tolerance for watching grown-ups make wild-eyed accusations on TV may have to go back to reading books again. How extreme…
John Combes, M.D., president of the American Hospital Association’s Center for Healthcare Governance and the AHA’s chief medical officer and senior vice president, will retire in October after almost 12 years leading the association’s governance and physician leadership efforts.
The women and men who work in America’s hospitals witness the toll of the opioid epidemic on patients and the health of their communities every day. While prescription opioids can be a safe and necessary part of pain management, these drugs also carry serious risks of harm because of the…
Health care leaders across the nation have instituted hand-hygiene policies to prevent the spread of infections by staff. Compliance with these policies, however, falls woefully short in many facilities. Case in point: In summer 2014, researchers from the University of New Mexico and the New…
Hep C deaths at all-time high 19,659: Number of U.S. deaths related to the hepatitis C virus in 2014, the highest number in history. The number of acute HCV cases hit 2,194 in 2014, more than 2.5 times the number in 2010. Increased testing and increased access to treatment are considered the…
The community health needs assessment has the potential to be a transformative driver for understanding and addressing the health needs of a hospital’s patient population — and meeting population health goals.
Hospitals and health systems throughout the country face many of the same challenges. One of the most dangerous — and almost always overlooked (if an organization is even aware of it) — is the persistent use of inconsistent terminology. When there are a lack of rules guiding…
In her book Notes on Nursing, originally published in 1859, Florence Nightingale stressed the importance of a number of environmental factors that are now understood to be critical to patient care, such as cleanliness, noise control, natural light and views of nature. Nurses have long…
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…