How Can Hospitals and Health Systems Improve Behavioral Health?

CHICAGO — One in every five American adults are living with a behavioral health disorder. Roughly half of these people don’t receive treatment. How should the health care field respond? What can be done to improve access and affordability?

The 2020 AHA Innovation Challenge is ready to: disrupt behavioral health care; inspire new strategies and test bold ideas that will make it easier for people living with psychiatric or substance use disorders obtain and afford proper treatment; and shatter the stigma commonly associated with behavioral health conditions and change lives for the better.

The challenge is open to all American Hospital Association members and their partners. And it begins now.

The top three proposals will receive $100,000, $25,000 and $15,000 to help bring the winning ideas to life.

"Hospitals and health systems are a hotbed for innovative ideas for transforming health care," said Jay Bhatt, D.O., AHA senior vice president and chief medical officer. "This year’s challenge is an opportunity to combine human compassion with innovative thinking to improve behavioral health care and save lives.”

Submissions will be judged based on the following criteria: increase access, reduce costs and improve health outcomes.

First American Healthcare Finance is the exclusive sponsor of the challenge. As a national provider of comprehensive leasing and financing solutions in health care, the organization has a long history of helping health care do more. 

“The U.S. spends an estimated $201 billion on mental illness, making it among the costliest health conditions in the country,” says Lori Dennis, Senior Vice President, First American Health Care Finance. “We’re proud to support innovation breakthroughs in behavioral health care by unlocking financial support hospitals and health systems need to address barriers at every stage of innovation and advance treatment.”

To learn more about the submission requirements and apply, visit aha.org/innovation-challenge. The deadline to submit applications is May 15, 2020. Award recipients will be honored at the AHA Leadership Summit July 19-21 in San Diego.

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Contact:        Kathy Cummings, (312) 422-2623, kcummings@aha.org
                       Arika Trim, (202) 626-2319, atrim@aha.org

About the American Hospital Association
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA advocates on behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, our clinician partners – including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers – and the 43,000 health care leaders who belong to our professional membership groups. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides insight and education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.