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Beginning this year, the Hospital Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program, mandated by the Affordable Care Act, requires CMS to reduce hospital payments by 1 percent for hospitals that rank among the lowest-performing 25 percent with regard to HACs. Penalizing hospitals that fall within the worst-performing quartile, this program is based on measures of adverse events occurring during hospital stays, such as pressure ulcers, pulmonary embolisms and certain types of health care associated conditions.

It’s a fact everyone in health care is well aware of—the aging population is increasing and in the coming years, will dramatically affect the delivery of health care.

According to the CDC’s The State of Aging & Health in America 2013 report, the growth in the number and proportion of older adults is unprecedented in the history of the United States. Two factors—longer life spans and aging baby boomers—will combine to double the population of Americans aged 65 years or older during the next 25 years to about 72 million. By 2030, older adults will account for roughly 20 percent of the U.S. population.

If you or a loved one suddenly needs expert treatment at a hospital, you need that care now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. That axiom is even truer with the implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act. Health care reform has raised expectations, along with the need to expand access to health care for more than 3 million California residents.

The state Attorney General’s Office is currently reviewing at least 32 proposed ballot initiatives and you can bet that we will likely see more than two dozen qualify for the November ballot. California, where voters cast their opinion via the ballot box, enacts many laws – some controversial, and the state continues to allow and promote the initiative and “direct legislation” routes to address problems being ducked by the legislature.

The New Year has begun and so has the new legislative session. As with each new session we anticipate no less than the usual 400 plus bills impacting hospitals and health care delivery… Several high-priority health care bills are already looming in the Legislature, dealing with issues such as charity care, workplace safety and implementation of health care reform.

How can HASC member hospitals play a meaningful role in curbing non-value added treatments, thereby helping to eliminate some duplicative costs, wasted services, and clinical complications so often associated with these treatments?

The American Hospital Association (AHA) recently presented a five-pronged approach with suggestions on achieving this goal. Critical steps include:

Do you know what your hospital is up to? Health care professionals are coming together; setting aside their competitive tendencies to help one another improve patient care. How? Hospitals are helping each other excel in a unique peer learning format where best practices are shared in critical care, surgical care, perinatal care and infection prevention.  As a result of this collaboration, in the last three years, more than 3,500 lives have been saved and $63 million in costs avoided by hospitals participating in the Patient Safety First (PSF) Collaboratives.