Legislation and Legislative Advocacy

In January, physicians and other eligible clinicians began their second year of Medicare’s Quality Payment Program, established by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015. The overarching goal of QPP remains the same: tying clinician payment to performance on quality and cost…
Throughout the year, the American Hospital Association urges hospital leaders, including trustees, to engage federal legislators and advocate on issues important to the patients and communities the hospitals serve. Advocacy is, in essence, sharing your organization’s story. And…
Value-based payment approaches, including Medicare’s Quality Payment Program for physicians and other eligible clinicians, tie fees and bonuses to how well providers perform on various quality and cost measures. An underlying assumption of value-based payment is that quality of care can be…
Violence Report examines cost of community violence Community violence cost U.S. hospitals and health systems an estimated $2.7 billion in 2016, according to a report prepared for the American Hospital Association by Milliman.
It was standing room only at a January physician education event in South Carolina as 140-plus providers in the Palmetto Health Quality Collaborative gathered from around the state’s Midlands region. The topic: the Quality Payment Program, which is Medicare’s new physician payment program.
Uncertainty is the new normal for rural hospitals. Finding ways to see through that uncertainty and move forward successfully brought trustees and executives to the American Hospital Association’s Rural Health Care Leadership Conference last month. Policy and governance were the themes at…
It takes a special kind of person to volunteer to serve on the board of an American hospital these days. As we’ve noted here innumerable times, health care is in the midst of a top-to-bottom transformation. While we don’t know precisely how the dust will settle, we do know, without a…
The 2017 American Hospital Association Annual Membership Meeting offers trustees an excellent opportunity to gain perspectives that will help us continue to advance health in America. The meeting, to be held May 7-10 in Washington, D.C., will feature some of America’s most…
Trustee talking points The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has rolled out a new Medicare physician payment system. The system will affect payment starting in 2019, with data reporting beginning in 2017.  Leaders of small rural hospitals believe success under Medicare…