America's Essential Hospitals
 Logo of America's Essential Hospitals | |
| Formation | 1981 |
|---|---|
| Type | trade association |
| Headquarters | Washington, DC |
Membership | About 250 hospitals and health systems |
| Leader | Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH |
| Website | www.essentialhospitals.org |
America's Essential Hospitals (formerly the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems) is an industry trade group that represents about 250 hospitals that fill a safety net role in their communities. The association, a nonprofit (501(c)(6)) organization based in Washington, DC, formed in 1981 as the National Association of Public Hospitals.[1]
A board of directors and committees composed of member volunteers govern America's Essential Hospitals. The association lobbies at the federal level on Medicaid and other issues important to hospitals that care for large numbers of uninsured, underinsured, and other vulnerable patients.[2][3] In 2013, America's Essential Hospitals reported that it paid $120,000 in lobbying expenses to Holland & Knight.[4]
America's Essential Hospitals operates a nonprofit (501(c)(3)) research organization, Essential Hospitals Institute (formerly the National Public Health and Hospital Institute), which conducts various research and quality improvement activities. Institute projects include the Essential Hospitals Engagement Network, one of 26 hospital networks in the federal Partnership for Patients program to improve patient safety and reduce avoidable readmissions.[5]
On June 20, 2013, the association announced that it had changed its name to America's Essential Hospitals and the name of its research arm to Essential Hospitals Institute. The new brand, the association explained, emphasized its members' relationship to vulnerable patients and, through trauma and other specialized care, communities at large.[6]
Activities
Member Characteristics Survey
America's Essential Hospitals annually surveys its members about various characteristics, such as patient ethnicity and race, operating margin, and amount of uncompensated care provided, and publishes aggregate findings in a report, "Essential Hospitals Vital Data." The most recent report, based on fiscal year 2013 data, included these and other findings about the association's member hospitals:[7]
- provided 17 percent of all uncompensated care nationally, or about $7.8 billion dollars
- cared for a racially and ethnically diverse population
- treated a community of which roughly half were uninsured or on Medicaid
- experienced an aggregate operating margin of negative 3.2 percent, compared with positive 5.7 percent for all hospitals nationwide
- operated more than one-third of all level I trauma centers and psychiatric care beds, and 69 percent of burn care beds, in the nation's 10 most-populous cities
- received high marks for patient satisfaction and quality, including for delivering all recommended care for heart attack and heart failure patients
References
- ^ America's Essential Hospitals. About America's Essential Hospitals. Retrieved 2014-08-23
- ^ Commins, John. Safety Net Executives Renew Call to Preserve DSH Payments. HealthLeaders Media. 2013-12-04. Retrieved 2014-08-23
- ^ Cheney, Kyle. Experts suggest Medicaid expansion could enroll 8 million. POLITICO. 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2014-08-23
- ^ Center for Responsive Politics. Lobbying spending database - America's Essential Hospitals, 2013. Retrieved 2014-08-23
- ^ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Hospital Engagement Networks. Retrieved 2014-08-23
- ^ Kravetz, Ayesha. Hospital association name change highlights essential services. FierceHealthcare, 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2014-08-23
- ^ Reid K, Roberson B, Landry C, Laycox S, Linson. Essential Hospitals Vital Data - Results of America's Essential Hospitals' Annual Hospital Characteristics Survey, FY 2013. America's Essential Hospitals, 2015-05-24. Retrieved 2015-07-26
External links
- America's Essential Hospitals (official site)
- Essential Hospitals Institute (official site)