AHA Stat Blog

By helping our communities better understand advance directives and health care decision-making at the end of life, we can demystify the topic and increase the number of people who have a plan in place. 

This year presents an important opportunity to educate your legislators on the changes taking place in the health care field. They need to hear from you on how your organization is innovating to create greater value and improve affordability, including forming new models and partnerships to deliver care.

As baby boomers retire, millennials will become an even larger part of the workforce, so engaging them will become more important than ever.

Each April, the AHA joins Donate Life America, the Health Resources and Services Administration and others in highlighting the important role of organ, eye and tissue donation in providing hope and health. 

This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a Vital Signs report identifying the threats associated with antibiotic resistance (AR) and recommending “early and aggressive action” to prevent resistant pathogens from spreading in health care facilities.

Opioid addiction is a mounting public health crisis. Individuals with substance use disorder are struggling with a brain disease.

The AHA Physician Alliance supports clinical and administrative leadership collaborating effectively for better health of communities.

Axios Vitals recent story on hospitals’ Medicare margins seemed to cherry pick data from a March Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) report to Congress to imply that hospitals “lose money” on Medicare because they are allegedly inefficient.

Eating healthful foods is important for good health, but individuals and households that are “food insecure” face challenges when it comes to getting enough food, consuming high-quality food or both.

The AHA’s 49th Annual Membership Meeting, May 6-9, comes at a critical time for the hospital and health care field. And its theme – Redefining the “H” – could not be more appropriate.

Hospitals and health systems across the country are collaborating with organizations in their communities to address food insecurity and housing, the opioid epidemic and other challenges that influence health and well-being.

Patient Safety Awareness Week is an opportunity for hospitals and health systems to reflect on their patient safety journey and share their progress. 

The second year of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) required by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) began on Jan. 1.

Please take the opportunity this week to share your work and resources on patient safety, safety culture and patient engagement with your community.

Health care is changing…and hospitals and health systems are transforming to meet the evolving needs of our patients and communities.

Hospitals and health systems are using health IT to engage patients, improve care coordination and better communicate across care settings.

The AHA has shared recommendations to stem the tide of the deadly opioid epidemic.

How do you fully recover from a Category 5 storm? And plan for the next one? Those are the questions Puerto Rico’s hospital leaders continue to ask five months after Hurricane Maria’s 155-miles-per hour winds left the island’s health system on life support. 

Does receiving a penalty under Medicare’s Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) program really mean a hospital is a poor performer? An online article published February 16 in the Journal for Healthcare Quality by the AHA and KNG Health Consulting shows that getting a HAC penalty resembles a game of chance for many hospitals, rather than a fair and meaningful determination of their performance in caring for patients with complex health needs.  

Quality must be the top priority of any hospital or health system—there simply is no alternative. And it takes all of us working together.