Appropriate Use of Medical Resources

Over the past two decades, and in the past five years in particular, there has been national discussion concerning the increased cost of health care.

The AHA white paper, Appropriate Use of Medical Resources, examines the drivers of health care costs and contributing factors. We identify a “top five” list of hospital-based procedures or interventions for which the hospital and the medical staff should craft policies and establish procedures intended to ensure appropriate use of services. These include:

Patient Blood Management
Antimicrobial Stewardship
Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions
Elective Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
Aligning Treatment with Patient Priorities in the Context of Progressive Disease for Use of the ICU

To help health systems and hospitals reduce the use non-beneficial services while improving health care overall, we offer a toolkit on each of these five topics. The toolkits contain resources and best practices from hospitals and health systems that are already on this path.

The AHA’s efforts around appropriate use of medical resources build on the report, “Ensuring a Healthier Tomorrow,” which was released by the AHA Board of Trustees in 2013.