Blog
Blogs from AHA leaders and members on the latest health care issues.
A report released last month used commercial claims data from United Healthcare (United), Aetna and Humana to reach a number conclusions about hospital prices and concentration. The paper is badly flawed and the assertions made about hospital market structure and prices, in particular, should be…
President Obama Tuesday pointed to the importance of addressing mental illness as part of a nationwide effort to stem gun violence. The president requested from Congress additional resources to increase access to mental health care. Hospital leaders know all too well that mental illness is too…
Better prevention, new medications, advanced technologies, and the sophisticated care that modern hospitals provide to patients are just some of the ways that hospitals are improving the care they deliver to their communities, which have led to shorter hospital stays. A recent column suggests…
During the holiday season, the lives of millions of Americans will be filled with the spirit of giving, the importance of family and friends, and a sense of healing, renewal and new opportunity. That spirit lives year-round in hospitals in every kind of community in every corner of the country. In…
A new study out today conflicts head on with an April 2015 study by a leading health care expert and antitrust economist that found “concentration or structure alone is not a meaningful or reliable predictor of price changes.” Both studies relied on commercial data, but the latter had authors who…
A Senate committee this week put the spotlight on the wave of increases in the cost of medications. While those truly innovative medicines that save lives and ease suffering are certainly valued by all, the committee’s hearing focused on some of the more troubling of the pharmaceutical industry’s…
As we swing into the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) reminds us to make our health a priority this season so we don’t give our loved ones the gift of the flu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created NIVW as a national…
Readmissions are falling fast thanks to the hard work of America’s hospitals to improve care, provide better discharge instructions to patients and partner with patients and others in their communities to coordinate care after they leave the hospital (Medicare Rules Reshape Hospital Readmissions,…
Progress is encouraging; continuous progress promises a better future.
The tragic Paris terrorist attacks reminds our country of the important work that the women and men of America’s hospitals do every day to keep our nation safe. That’s because we’re prepared, not only for the expected but also the unthinkable. Hospitals accept the challenge of being “Always There,…