Advancing Health

On this AHA Advancing Health Podcast, Jay Bhatt, AHA senior vice president and chief medical officer, and obstetrician-gynecologist Sharmila Makhija, M.D., discuss the AHA Institute for Diversity and Health Equity’s goal of eliminating maternal health disparities, including lowering maternal mortality rates for black women.

Our mission to advance health in America can only be as successful as the people who lead it. In a time of rapid transformational change, much depends on the readiness of next generation health care leaders to step up and accept the challenge of driving our field toward innovation and value.

On this AHA Advancing Health Podcast, Jay Bhatt, AHA senior vice president and chief medical officer, and Jonah Michael, senior vice president of First American Healthcare Finance, discuss why innovation has become a top priority for hospitals and health systems.

At a recent executive forum in Boston presented by AHA’s The Value Initiative, AHA Board Chair, Brian Gragnolati, spoke with Kate Walsh, CEO of Boston Medical Center. She shared her insights, along with her belief that most hospitals and health systems have the capability to engage with the social determinants, thereby improving value and enhancing outcomes and the patient experience.

On this AHA Advancing Health Podcast, two rural health care policy experts dive into the AHA rural report, published earlier this year, and discuss its call to action for rural providers and advocates.

How is the battle against human trafficking going? Is all the effort making a difference? On this AHA Advancing Health Podcast, Robyn Begley, AHA senior vice president and chief nursing officer, moderates a discussion with two government experts on the topic of human trafficking.

Eliminating unnecessary medical tests and procedures can be as important in delivering high-quality care as providing the right interventions. In this Advancing Health podcast we speak with Pamela Johnson, vice chair of quality safety and value for the department of radiology at John Hopkins Health. We learn how one major health system is taking a hard look at its treatment protocols, thereby improving quality outcomes and decreasing health care costs.

On this AHA Advancing Health podcast, Julia Resnick, senior program manager for AHA’s The Value Initiative, and Kelly Kelleher, M.D., vice president of health services research at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital (Ohio), discuss the components of a healthy community and the hospital’s initiative to build affordable homes on vacant properties.

Today’s health care consumers value convenience as a major influence in their decision-making about their care. Hospitals and health systems have responded by greatly increasing access, bringing care services to outreach clinics, homes, and other venues that meet patients where they are. This AHA podcast, “Healthcare Without an Address,” takes a look at how the new emphasis on mobility and convenience is advancing health in America.

On this AHA Advancing Health podcast, Jordan Steiger, performance improvement coach at the AHA Center for Health Innovation, and Suzette Urbaschich, director of Rogers InHealth, part of Rogers Behavioral Health System in Wisconsin, discuss the stress of working in emotionally draining and intellectually demanding health care environments and strategies to reduce burnout.

Today we take a look at the Heart of New Ulm Project, a collaborative effort between the New Ulm medical center and the Minneapolis heart institute foundation. This groundbreaking initiative is aimed at reducing heart disease throughout the rural city of New Ulm, Minnesota focusing on preventing cardiovascular disease versus treating it after it occurs.

On this AHA Advancing Health podcast, Nancy Myers, vice president of leadership and system innovation for the AHA Center for Health Innovation, and Duane Reynolds, president and CEO of the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity, discuss health equity and its relationship to community health.

Hospitals are the cornerstones of their communities, serving as principal access points to care for the nearly 60 million people or 20 percent of Americans who live in rural areas. Despite their importance, rural hospitals continuously confront a multitude of challenges that threaten their ability to ensure local access to care.

Earlier this month, The Value Initiative hosted an AHA Executive Forum in Atlanta where hospital and health system leaders shared insights and explored opportunities to address value and affordability in health care. While the forum explored a variety of topics one theme resonated throughout the day – collaboration.

Population health is a term that is used widely, but often not defined. In this podcast, Nancy Myers, AHA’s Vice President of Leadership and System Innovation, talks about how AHA is framing its population health work to support the field.

After being discharged from the hospital, some patients with complex social and medical needs return repeatedly to the emergency department. Today we hear from a critical access hospital in Oregon and its innovative partnership with its ambulance service. Chief administration officer (CAO) Jason Hawkins from PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center in Florence, Oregon and Chris Martin, critical care paramedic for the Western Lane Ambulance District discuss their partnership to address barriers to recovery.

Improving maternal safety and outcomes in the US is a top priority. While we have seen some success in improving outcomes, we must continue to pursue advancements in maternal care. We means hospitals, health systems, clinicians, and community partners – all supporting mothers and doing more to improve their care. In this Advancing Health podcast, Jay Bhatt, senior vice president and chief medical officer for the American Hospital Association speaks with Rear Admiral Wanda Barfield, the director of the division of reproductive health for the CDC.

In the third and final installation of the Healthy, Equitable and Resilient Communities podcast series, we feature Saint Anthony Hospital’s Collaborative for Community Wellness, a Chicago-based collaborative comprised of 22 community-based organizations. We speak with Dr. Arturo Carillo, the mental health and family support manager of Saint Anthony Hospital and Patrick Brosnan, executive director of Brighton Park Neighborhood Council.

At Presbyterian – a not-for-profit integrated health system with nine hospitals, a medical group and a health plan in New Mexico – their Integrated Substance Use Disorder and Community Collaborative Initiative is designed to strengthen improve outcomes for patients, families and members affected by substance use disorders through a holistic approach. Dr. Daniel Duhigg, medical director for addiction services at Presybyterian Healthcare Services discusses their methods in this Advancing Health podcast.

The Prescribe Safe Initiative is an extremely successful community-based project bringing together law enforcement, hospitals and physicians to reduce prescription medication misuse. The American Hospital Association and the AHA Physician Alliance sought to provide members with a deeper dive on key elements driving the success of Prescribe Safe through three podcasts that explore: • Securing funding and support, • Working collaboratively with a wide variety of partners; and • Leveraging complementary and alternative medicine to reduce the use of opioids in the management of pain. For additional information and resources on how hospitals and health systems are impacting the opioid epidemic go to: www.aha.org/opoiods