Value of Membership in the AHA 2019

We are AHA.

2019 The Value of
AHA Membership

ACCESS | HEALTH | INNOVATION | AFFORDABILITY
As we prepare for 2020, the American Hospital Association is working
harder than ever on behalf of the nation’s hospitals, health systems, and
the patients and families they serve.
No other organization can deliver for you like the AHA. Whether it’s via
our strong relationships with key legislators, policy-makers and others
on Capitol Hill or the new programs we’re developing to help your
organization transform, our work is dedicated to helping you prepare for
what lies ahead during this pivotal time.

ACCESS Strengthening relationships on Capitol H
In addition to the daily Hill visits conducted by
We work hard to shape the conversations that impact the team members, hundreds of AHA members m
essential access you provide to health care for Americans. visits to Washington this year for the AHA An
Meeting and Advocacy Days to support them in
Modernizing the Stark and Anti-kickback rules. Long advocated with their legislators, where they made their ca
by the AHA, the Department of Health and Human Services Oct. 9
proposed modernizing the Stark Law on physician self-referral and action in support of America’s hospitals.
the Anti-kickback Statute to remove unnecessary roadblocks to the
kind of collaboration and coordination that enables caregivers to American Hospital Association
meet all of their patients’ health care needs. Specifically, on Stark,
CMS proposes creating new permanent exceptions to the law for
value-based arrangements and certain other arrangements, such
as donations of certain cybersecurity technology. The exceptions
would apply whether the care was provided to Medicare or other
patients.

On the Anti-kickback Statute, HHS’s Office of Inspector General
proposes three new safe harbors for remuneration exchanged
between or among eligible participants in a value-based
arrangement. It also proposes new safe harbors for remuneration
provided in connection with patient engagement; the donation of
cybersecurity technology and services; electronic health records;
outcomes-based payments; telehealth for in-home dialysis; CMS-
sponsored models and Medicare accountable care organizations;
and an expanded safe harbor for local transportation. Final rules
may be released in early 2020.

Rejecting site-neutral payment policies so that legitimate
differences between care sites is recognized. We received
a favorable ruling on our lawsuit filed against the HHS saying
that the CMS exceeded its statutory authority when it reduced
payments for certain providers.

Achieving restoration of cuts to 340B hospitals. Our lawsuit
stating that HHS’s reduction in reimbursement rates for 340B drugs
was unlawful was reaffirmed by the U.S. District Court, and HHS
was instructed to remedy the impact of these harmful funding cuts.

Reducing the backlog of Medicare appeals. In response to our
litigation, the U.S. District Court reinstated an order that will require
HHS to reduce the appeals backlog by 19% by the end of this year,
with the entire backlog completely wiped out by the end of FY
2021. And the judge is holding HHS accountable through regular
required updates.

For more on how we’re working for you in Washington and more,
visit aha.org/value.

www.aha.org 2

The Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care
galvanizes the support of millions to protect America’s

health care. Through our work with the Coalition to
Protect America’s Health Care, the AHA has reached
more than 2 million supporters. This engaged group
is essential to our efforts to amplify our messages to
Congress about the need to keep coverage and care

available to all Americans.

protecthealthcare.org

Hill. Driving the future of rural health care. This summer,
AHA the AHA launched the Future of Rural Health Care
Task Force to help shape rural health care delivery
made and ensure access to quality care in rural America.
nnual
n visits This task force will help rural providers identify future
ase for trends and emerging strategies, and develop new

care delivery and financial models. The group explores
flexible solutions that integrate population health

approaches and preventive health services to improve
health outcomes, and prevent high-cost utilization
of services. It also addresses the role that hospitals

should play as a community convener and partner to
leverage the collaborative nature of rural communities.

The American Hospital Association Political Action
Committee (AHAPAC) is the best means for hospitals
and health systems to sustain a unified, national voice

in the 2020 congressional elections. With an annual
fundraising goal of $2.3 million, partnerships with the
state hospital associations and commitment from our
leaders, AHAPAC supports federal candidates who
will champion the health care agenda and will have a
visible presence in 2020. Learn more at ahapac.org

or contact Shari Dexter at [email protected]
or (202) 626-2338.

2019 The Value of AHA Membership 3 www.aha.org

AHA Team Training, which helps members
provide safer team-based care by improving
communication and teamwork, delivered valuable
support to hundreds of organizations via a national
conference, webinars, courses and on-site training.

aha.org/team-training

The Institute for Diversity and Health Equity O
leads national initiatives to advance equity, diversity nam
Lead
and inclusion in health care to empower health dev
organizations to provide equitable care for all persons. recor

diversityconnection.org a

The AHA Physician Alliance is bringing new
resources and tools to the growing community of
clinician leaders within our member hospitals and
health systems, including seminars on burnout,

assessment tools and playbooks.

aha.org/physicians

www.aha.org 4 American Hospital Association

Our nurse leadership group unveiled a new HEALTH
me, the American Organization for Nursing
dership, to reflect its broader commitment to The AHA is collaborating side by side with our members in a
veloping leaders in the field, and celebrated a relentless pursuit of improvement in health and health care.
rd-setting meeting that drew more than 4,200
attendees, up 30% over the previous year. We are establishing new initiatives and collaboratives in
support of the journey toward higher-quality care delivery for all
aonl.org individuals:

2019 The Value of AHA Membership Age-friendly Health Systems. Designed to support the
delivery of care for older adults, this initiative seeks to
rapidly spread improvement to 20% of U.S. hospitals
and medical practices by 2020. The AHA is joined in this
effort by The John A. Hartford Foundation, the Institute
for Healthcare Improvement and the Catholic Health
Association of the United States.

The Hospital Community Cooperative. Supported in
part by the Aetna Foundation, this initiative is designed
to address all aspects of a healthy community, including
housing, health care, food and transportation.

TAKEheart Cardiac Rehabilitation. This program
invites our members to participate in a new Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality initiative to increase
the use of cardiac rehabilitation. Currently, only 20%
of eligible patients are routinely referred to cardiac
rehab; if that number increased to 70%, it could save
approximately 25,000 lives and prevent 180,000 hospital
admissions every year.

Our Hospital Improvement and Innovation Network,
which involves more than 1,600 hospitals and 34 state
hospital associations, has contributed significantly to
the goal of reducing all-cause patient harm by 20% and
readmissions by 12% by the end of 2019.

A new partnership with the Center to Advance
Palliative Care is asking our members to identify and
address the needs of patients needing extra support
and to build care plans that address both the clinical and
emotional needs of the whole patient.

Our Hospitals Against Violence initiative provides
resources to help hospitals address youth violence
prevention, workforce violence prevention and human
trafficking. Learn more at aha.org/hav.

For more, visit aha.org/advancing-clinical-care.

5 www.aha.org

INNOVATION Leaders of tomorrow will get a boost from partic
in our Next Generation Leaders Fellowshi
We have marked one year since the announcement of our a yearlong program that pairs emerging leade
agenda for innovation and transformation, which harnesses
the resources of the entire association and AHA membership with mentors to develop an action plan to driv
to support the field on the path of transformation. transformational project within their organizati

Since its launch in September 2018, the AHA Center for Health aha.org/nextgenfellowship
Innovation has released a wealth of new tools, programs and
initiatives, including: AHA MetricVuTM

AHA Market Scan. A weekly “must read” on the latest
developments driving transformation in health care.

A re-invigorated AHA Leadership Summit that featured
new learning formats and opportunities to promote a
revolution in thinking among health care leaders in pursuit
of success in this environment of constant disruption.

New data tools and assessments that allow you to see
your organization’s comparative performance on a range of
measures.

AHA Design Studio. Fueled by the imperative to
accelerate and lead transformational solutions to complex
challenges facing the field, its goal is to bring members
together in unique collaborations to find solutions that can
be replicated at scale. The first three areas of focus, as
supported by the AHA Board of Trustees, are Behavioral
Health, EHR Usability and Risk. Expect more information
on this work in early 2020.

We’re also working to build innovation capacity within the field by
offering opportunities for both seasoned and emerging leaders to
come together to learn new ways of problem-solving and breaking
down barriers to innovation.

And we’re continuing to deliver innovation on the front lines.
The AHA’s professional membership groups offer world-class
professional development to thousands of health care leaders
through widely attended conferences, webinars, online courses,
toolkits and more.

For more, visit aha.org/center.

www.aha.org It’s never been easier to leverage the nation’s most trusted hospital and health syst
understanding of the current environment and your opportun

Live, interactive dashboards present key metrics:

6 American Hospital Association

We’re fueling the spread of new ideas through and the
programs like the AHA Innovation Challenge and Health Care
a Startup Competition to recognize, reward and Workforce

promote some of the best thinking in the field. How hospitals and health systems can
use artificial intelligence to build the
aha.org/center/innovation-capacity/challenge health care workforce of the future

INSIGHTS

cipation The Center for Health Innovation produces regular
ip, Market Insights reports on topics – such as telehealth,
ers
ve a behavioral health and artificial intelligence – that are
ions. driving where health care is headed next.

aha.org/market-insights

New data tools, such as AHA MetricVuTM, allow you
to benchmark your organization’s performance against

your peers on a variety of metrics, including quality
performance and readmissions.

ahadata.com/metricvu

tem data to improve your 7 www.aha.org
nities.

2019 The Value of AHA Membership

Screening for Social Needs: A new guide to screening for social needs
via patient engagement was released to help
Guiding Care Teams to Engage Patients hospitals and health systems facilitate sensitive
conversations about nonmedical needs that may

be a barrier to good health.

aha.org/value-initiative

©2019 American Hospital Association | www.aha.org 1 The AHA’s
Engineering
Our Members in Action series contains a growing
facilities mo
repository of case studies, issue briefs, podcasts and Dashboard.
checking ene
videos all designed to share the outstanding work of fitness device
only take 15
our members on this important issue.
typically r
aha.org/value-initiative

Because the answer to the challenge of affordability
requires the involvement of multiple stakeholders,

the AHA has been convening groups of thought
leaders from the provider, technology and other
fields for regional Executive Forums that examine

how to improve value through innovation and
collaboration. These sessions, held this past year
in Atlanta, Boston and Denver, drew hundreds of
hospital C-suite leaders and other stakeholders to

the table. More sessions are planned for 2020.

aha.org/education-events/aha-executive-forum

www.aha.org 8 American Hospital Association

s American Society for Health Care AFFORDABILITY
released a new tool to help health care
onitor energy use: the Energy to Care As overall health care spending continues to rise to meet the needs
The clean and simple interface makes of an aging America, consumers’ concerns around the affordability of
ergy use as easy as tracking steps on a health care continue to grow.
e. With use of the dashboard, it should
minutes a day to impact the costs that The AHA is meeting the challenge of affordability head on by working to:
represent half of a facility’s budget.
Rein in skyrocketing drug prices.
energytocare.org
Improve access to quality health coverage.

Make information available on price and quality.

Invest in public health to improve overall health and well-being.

Treat the whole person – increase access to behavioral
health care.

Reduce red tape from government regulation.

Remove outdated laws that impede communication and
collaboration between hospitals and other providers.

Now entering its third year, The Value Initiative provides education,
resources and tools drawn from the work of our members as they
seek to decrease health care costs while improving quality and patient
experiences. Learn more at aha.org/value-initiative.

We’re also making sure that our members are part of the conversation.

For example, we’re pushing back on the insurance industry’s claim that
hospitals are responsible for rising costs with a high-impact ad that set the
record straight by showing how insurance price growth has skyrocketed
while providers have held price growth down.

View the message and our solutions at aha.org/affordability.

2019 The Value of AHA Membership 9 www.aha.org

MEMBERSHIP FEBRUARY 2-5, 202

Get more from your membership. ARIZONA GRAND RESORT
PHOENIX, AZ
We hope you are already taking advantage of the many
benefits available to you and your organization as an AHA AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Confere
member. Be sure to visit the new Member Center at February 2-5 · Phoenix
aha.org/membercenter, which contains links to the most
popular assets and resources on the site. The educational event of choice for rural leaders
want to exchange ideas and learn best practice
Stay ahead of the issues.
can ensure a more sustainable future.
AHA Today. Our daily e-newsletter brings you the news, aha.org/ruralconference
insights and resources you need six days a week.
aha.org/news Member Activity
Dashboard
AHA Market Scan. A weekly e-newsletter from the
AHA Center for Health Innovation shares the latest Watch for information in 2020 on your
intelligence on developments connected to health care My AHA Activity Dashboard, a quick and
disruption and transformation. aha.org/center concise summary of the ways your organiza

Market Insights. In-depth, issue-focused reports on the is connecting to the Association.
trends and forces driving the future of health care, such
as telehealth, artificial intelligence and more.
aha.org/center/Market-Insights

Advancing Health Podcast. Listen on the go to this
series that features conversations with hospital and
health system leaders. Look for new episodes from your
mobile device by using SoundCloud, or visit
aha.org/advancing-health-podcast.

Engage and inform your board.

The Presentation Center. A valuable library of
presentations and talking points on top health care
issues – fully customizable for your use.
aha.org/data-and-insights/presentation-center

Trustee Insights. From succession planning to advice on
building a population health strategy, valuable tools and
education for trustees can be found at trustees.aha.org.

www.aha.org 10 American Hospital Association

20 Cybersecurity Resources

T & SPA AHA’s Cybersecurity and Risk Advisory practice
provides trusted advisory services for members. John
Riggi, a nationally recognized cybersecurity expert and Annual Membership Meeting
decorated FBI veteran, leverages his experience and
trusted access to provide uniquely informed advisory April 19-21, 2020 | Washington, D.C.

services. Services include onsite leadership threat
briefings, challenging cyber tabletop exercises and
educational workshops. Members also have 24/7

access for urgent situations.

aha.org/cybersecurity

ence AHA Annual Membership Meeting

s who April 19-21 · Washington, D.C.
es that
Take advantage of the premier hospital advocacy
event of the year, which brings members together
with leaders in the fields of politics, health policy
and media to focus on the issues affecting the field

during this critical election year.
aha.org/annualconference

d AHA Leadership Summit
ation
July 19-21 · San Diego

Powered by the AHA Center for Health Innovation,
this event offers executives, emerging leaders and
other thought leaders from the field the chance to
share and learn disruptive strategies and unexpected

solutions for success.
aha.org/summit

2019 The Value of AHA Membership 11 www.aha.org

Chicago Office:
155 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60606
312.422.3000

Washington Office:
800 10th Street, NW
Two CityCenter, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20001
202.638.1100

www.aha.org

@AHAhospitals; @AHAadvocacy

facebook.com/AHAhospitals

@AHAhospitals

linkedin.com/company/american-hospital-association

©2019 American Hospital Association
December 2019