Perspective
Perspective is a weekly blog from Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, that explores the most important issues facing hospitals and health systems.
All hospitals and health systems provide an oasis of care, compassion and healing to the patients and communities they serve.
Cyber criminals are probing the defenses of health care providers every second of every day. Health care continues to be the number one targeted critical infrastructure sector as bad actors attempt to breach patients’ private data, phish for sensitive information and attempt to extort ransomware…
As we move into fall and winter, we know the viruses that cause respiratory disease will usually circulate more heavily in communities. Already, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said it expects this year to be similar to last year when we saw higher than normal numbers of…
As we’ve seen from recent media reports, Congress — and especially the House right now — continues to struggle to put together a plan to keep the government funded and avoid a potential shutdown that few want to see.
Hospitals are places of healing, health and hope. They strive to create safe spaces for the patients and communities they serve and the dedicated team members who work there each and every day.
With only 11 days that the House and Senate are in session together before the fiscal year concludes, much of the attention in Washington is on how Congress will fund the government and whether there will be a government shutdown.
Fair competition has always been the driving principle of our nation’s economy. This includes health care, and it’s the reason the Ethics in Patient Referrals Act, more commonly known as the “Stark Law,” has been on the books for decades to protect the Medicare program from the inherent conflict of…
Trends in health insurance coverage are driving an increase in medical debt: these include inadequate enrollment in comprehensive health care coverage and high-deductible and skinny health plans that intentionally push more costs onto patients.
For years, many commercial health insurers treated coverage for mental health or substance use disorders (SUD) very differently than for medical and surgical benefits.
Legislators need to be aware of the work that hospitals and health systems do now more than ever because the House and Senate are considering so-called site-neutral legislation that would further reduce Medicare funding for patient services provided by hospitals.