Issues & Trends
American Hospital Association content on issues and trends in the health care field.
Last year marked the 50th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid. These two programs (including state funding) represent 37 cents of every dollar spent on health care in the United States. There are more than 54 million Medicare beneficiaries and 64 million Americans on Medicaid.
As one of the…
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has created a Web page featuring strategies and tools to support OSHA’s “Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Healthcare and Social Service Workers.” Visit www.osha.gov/dsg/hospitals/workplace_violence.html.
U.S. hospitals are embracing tried-and-true sustainability methods and launching new initiatives tailored to their individual budgets and staffing needs. Here’s a sample of initiatives underway, from the Health Facilities Management/American Society for Healthcare Engineering/Association…
Trustee Talking Points
Trustee Talking Points
Sepsis is a leading cause of death and the most expensive condition treated in hospitals.
Nearly half of patients who die in the hospital have sepsis.
Many hospitals have given sepsis control less attention than other types of patient harm.…
Hospitals are making “substantial progress in improving safety,” according to an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality report that found a 17 percent decline in hospital-acquired conditions from 2010 to 2014. That saved 87,000 lives and nearly $20 billion in health costs. HACs include adverse…
More than 40,000 health care information management professionals, clinicians, executives and vendors from around the world will attend HIMSS annual conference and exhibition Feb. 29-March 4 in Las Vegas. Peyton Manning, the National Football League’s five-time most valuable player, will…
The number of new cases of diabetes diagnosed in the United States declined significantly from 2009 to 2014 after steadily rising for 25 years, according to data released in December by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The country recorded 1.4 million new cases in 2014, down from 1.7…
The American Hospital Association last month awarded its 2015 Shirley Ann Munroe Leadership Award to Vince Oliver, CEO and superintendent of Island Hospital in Anacortes, Wash. The award honors small or rural hospital leaders who have improved health care delivery in their communities through…
Misprescribed in Pediatrics50%: An estimated half of antibiotic prescriptions given during pediatric office visits are inappropriate.Source: Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, Aug. 20, 2015
Deeply held beliefs can blind boards to the true nature of change. It’s time to challenge the orthodoxies. In the early 2000s, the Nokia board debated creating a smartphone. The company’s wireless handset was the global best seller. Management believed consumers would not use a touch…