1. by: Fiona Lane

2. History The AHA was founded in 1898 The AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. The American Hospital Association (AHA) is the national organization that represents and serves all types of hospitals, health care networks, and their patients and communities. Nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care as well as 43,000 individual members have come together to form the AHA.

3. Mission of the AHA “To advance the health of individuals and communities. The AHA leads, represents and serves hospitals, health systems and other related organizations that are accountable to the community and committed to health improvement. The AHA vision is of a society of healthy communities, where all individuals reach their highest potential for health.” -AHA

4. Membership Institutional members include: Hospitals Health care systems Pre-acute/Post-acute patient care facilities Hospital-affiliated educational programs (e.g., hospital school of nursing, program in health administration). Members are usually organizations or professional societies that are admitted based on their type and size- usually from 1000 to 10,000 individual members. You can join online!

5. Issues Medicare Medicaid Clinical Integration Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities Health Information Technology Health Reform Moving Forward Teaching Hospitals - Medical Education Quality and Patient Safety

6. Current Issues of Concern before Congress Reject Proposals to implement Site-Neutral payments.  Site-Neutral payments would equalize evaluation and management office visit payment rates, regardless of whether they occur in a hospital outpatient setting or a physician's office, which would save up to $1 billion a year.  The hospital trade group estimated that the total site-neutral changes would cost hospitals over $2 billion annually and increase hospitals' Medicare outpatient losses from 11% to 17%. Protect access to hospital care.  Total budget cuts are approaching nearly half a trillion over the next 10 years.  $45 billion in Medicare sequestration cuts,  Many local hospitals are nearing a breaking point in their ability to ensure patients have the care they need, when they need it.  In the last 3 years, hospitals have been subjected to more than $95 billion in cuts  Local hospitals simply cannot meet the needs of the communities.

7. Website Transfer Slogans

8. Q: How can members get involved? A: The AHA Advocacy Alliance! 1. The AHA Advocacy Alliance for Rural Hospitals  Focus: benefitting small and rural hospitals and extending Medicare provisions that expire in 2012  Protect Critical Access Hospitals and other rural hospital designations. 2. The AHA Advocacy Alliance for Graduate Medical Education  Focus: advocacy related to graduate medical education funding and ensuring an adequate supply of physicians.  Joint effort between the AHA and the Association of American Medical Colleges. 3. The AHA Advocacy Alliance for Coordinated Care  Focus: ensure that payment rates remain fair and equitable in the hospital outpatient setting for evaluation and management and other services and for post- acute care providers.  Monitors payment reduction proposals in other care sites. 4. The AHA Advocacy Alliance for the 340B Drug Discount Program  Focus: preventing attempts to scale back this vital drug discount program  Support expansion of 340B discounts. 5. The AHA Advocacy Alliance for Provider Assessments  Focus: Work with partners at the state hospital associations to continue joint efforts to urge Congress not to restrict funding.