Alabama Hospital Association

Sponsored meetings: the Alabama Hospital Association conducts two major meetings for its membership each year. Both of these meetings provide timely educational programs qualifying for continuing education credit from executive, financial and clinical licensing entities. The annual meeting, with 92 Hospital executives participating, covered the following topics: strategies to measure and improve emergency department performance, 340b reimbursement and medicare advantage rates, what does the provider compensation roadmap look like, effective strategies for Hospital workplace violence mitigation, imperatives for hospitals in a changing threat landscape, managing medicare managed care, reimagining pediatric emergency departments and enhancing healthcare coordination: aims platform and patient transfer module. The Association recognized $294,705 in sponsorship revenue from this meeting and received $26,900 in registration income. The other major educational program conducted during the year is geared toward senior Hospital management, trustee board members, legislators and other stake holders. This two-day meeting held in february 2024 had 137 Hospital executives participating. Specific educational topics included what's your pink cadillac, all health a proposal to close the coverage gap, exploring the mental health landscape in Alabama and navigating the future: innovative workforce development strategies. The Association recognized $110,697 in sponsorship revenue fees for this meeting. And received $37,140 in registration income.

Quality: alaha continues to support hospitals statewide on various quality improvement and infection prevention initiatives to ensure the best patient care possible. There are monthly meetings of quality directors and infection preventionists where information is provided and best practices are shared. Twice a year, almost 200 Hospital quality leaders gather for a day-long quality and patient safety conference. In addition, alaha contracts with the state's qio to provide focused work for 18 hospitals on specified quality improvement topics (such as preventing infections, adverse drug events and readmissions). The Association also supports 9 different community coalitions across the state that include not only hospitals, but also other post-acute healthcare providers, consumer advocacy organizations, and other community stakeholder organizations. In these communities the resources and coaching focus on topics such as care transitions, behavioral health and chronic conditions. Last year alaha hosted a quality residency program for new Hospital quality professionals. Around forty participants attended the 8-session program which highlighted the essential roles and responsibilities of the quality director. In addition, seven regional training sessions on wound & ostomy care and management were conducted, with over 150 participants from across the state. In the coming year alaha will host a wound certification program offered by the wound care education institute for those interested. We again hosted an infection prevention bootcamp with 33 new infection preventionists in attendance. A certification prep course for individuals preparing to sit for the cic exam with 37 in fy24 and 40 already registered for the fy25 course. Our infection prevention efforts also include site visits and virtual meetings with hospitals to assist with ongoing prevention practices or to help troubleshoot problem areas. We also held excel training classes in a computer lab for 34 Hospital employees from various disciplines ranging from the beginner, intermediate to advanced clinician.

Grants & administrative fees: the Alabama Hospital Association contracts with the state of Alabama department of public health for the administration of grants targeting rural hospitals to include those designated as medicare critical access hospitals. One of the grants funded the following projects/initiatives: swing beds, learning action networks on leadership rounding, billing and coding, education on social determinants of health quality measures. $217,957 was expended for this grant benefiting 41 hospitals. Another grant, ship (small Hospital improvement program) provides federal funds to assist 42 hospitals with 49 beds or less to implement Hospital improvement programs. $495,441 was expended for this grant. One last grant included covid-19 coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds benefitting 105 hospitals that collectively received $4,172,614. The Association did not earn an administrative fee from this grant. The Association received $112,135 in administrative fees from the above referenced grants and or contracts.