HRET/HPOE Guides and Reports

Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence (HPOE) guides have gone digital and mobile! HPOE is the American Hospital Association's strategic platform to accelerate performance improvement and support health reform implementation. We are delighted to provide you FREE and easy access to multiple action guides which are available via your PC, mobile device or from any browser. Learn more...

	Eliminating Health Care Disparities: Implementing the National Call to Action Using Lessons Learned -February 2012 This guide looks at nine hospitals and health systems and summarizes each organization’s key successes toward providing equity in care in one of the three areas: increasing the collection of race, ethnicity, and language preference data, increasing cultural competency training for clinicians and support staff, or increasing diversity in governance and management.
	Caring for Vulnerable Populations -January 2012 In 2011, The AHA Committee on Research examined emerging hospital-centered practices in effective care coordination for vulnerable populations, focusing the examples on the critical "dual eligible" population â€“ individuals eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. The report, Caring for Vulnerable Populations, explores the necessity for organizations to pursue improved care coordination strategies for dual eligibles and other vulnerable populations.
	Hospitals and Care Systems of the Future -September 2011 Analyzing the results of exploratory interviews, this inaugural publication from AHA's Committee on Performance Improvement identifies must-do, priority strategies and core competencies that hospitals and care systems should establish to remain successful in this era of sweeping change throughout the industry.
	Allied Hospital Association Leadership for Quality - July 2011 Using examples from the applicants for the American Hospital Association’s inaugural Dick Davidson Quality Milestone Award for Allied Association Leadership, this guide describes the common elements of implementing successful performance improvement initiatives among hospitals and health systems.

	Building a Culturally Competent Organization: The Quest for Equity in Health Care - June 2011 This guide explores how hospitals and health systems can increase their cultural competency in order to provide care that is respectful of patients’ diverse values, beliefs and behaviors.
	Striving for Top Box: Hospitals Increasing Quality and Efficiency - April 2011 This guide was created to share best practices and key lessons from innovative organizations on a variety of topics including care coordination, health and wellness, equity of care, and new payment and care delivery models.
	Improving Health Equity Through Data Collection AND Use: A Guide for Hospital Leaders - March 2011 This guide explores key strategies that hospitals have adopted to collect race, ethnicity, and primary language data about their patients and use the data in efforts to overcome disparities in care.
	A Health Care Leader Action Guide: Hospital Strategies for Reducing Preventable Mortality - February 2011 This guide is designed to assist hospital leaders in improving quality and performance by outlining eight steps on ways reduce for reducing preventable mortality.
	A Health Care Leader Action Guide: Understanding and Managing Variation - February 2011 The guide includes practical steps to understanding and managing variation and a list of best practices and case studies as examples and resources for hospital leaders to use for implementing key interventions.
	Call to Action: Creating a Culture of Health -January 2011 The AHA's Long-Range Policy Committee developed a comprehensive report, A Call to Action: Creating a Culture of Health. It highlights current practices that hospitals use today with their own employees, gives examples of promising practices, and provides how-to recommendations to the field to be leaders of health in their communities.
	A Guide to Financing Strategies for Hospitals - With Special Consideration for Smaller Hospitals - December 2010 This guide explores seven strategies that can help hospitals achieve the best possible capital access.
	AHA Committee on Research: Strategic Issue Forecast Report - November 2010 AHA Committee on Research developed the Strategic Issues Forecast 2015. The purpose of the Strategic Issues Forecast 2015 is to look beyond the 2010-2012 AHA Research Agenda and to focus on long-term strategic issues affecting hospitals and health systems in the 2011 to 2015 horizon. By doing so, the Strategic Issues Forecast 2015 is meant to help drive transformation in health care.
	Hand Hygiene Project: Best Practices from Hospitals Participating in the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare Project - November 2010 This multi-case study describes how eight hospitals used Lean Six Sigma to examine and improve work processes and identify causes and targeted solutions for failure to clean hands.
	AHA Research Synthesis Report: Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) - September 2010 This synthesis report presents an overview of the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), including key features, discussion of federal, state, and private sector medical home models, and considerations for hospitals interested in developing a PCMH.
	Early Learnings from the Bundled Payment Acute Care Episode Demonstration Project - July 2010 An overview and summary of lessons learned from the current CMS pilot project, the CMS Acute Care Episode Demonstration Project, that is testing the effect of bundling Part A and B payments for episodes of care improve coordination, quality and efficiency of care.
	Health Care Leader Action Guide on Implementation of Electronic Health Records - July 2010 This report provides a roadmap to help senior executives develop a strategy to use EHRs that advances the organization's ability to deliver care that is safer, effective and efficient.
	AHA Research Synthesis Report: Accountable Care Organizations - June 2010 This guide presents ideas to consider in developing an ACO and reviews the key competencies that are needed in order to be an accountable ACO.
	Using Workforce Practices to Drive Quality Improvement: A Guide for Hospitals - June 2010 This guide provides practical advice on workforce practices that hospitals can adopt to develop a high-performing workforce that can deliver safe, high quality and efficient health care.
	AHA Research Synthesis Report: Bundled Payment - March 2010 An AHA Research Synthesis Report presents an overview of bundled payment, including evidence of its impact in the public and private sector, as well as questions that must be considered.
	A Guide to Achieving High Performance in Multi-Hospital Health Systems - March 2010 The guide provides numerous tools that leaders can use to help drive performance improvement regardless if they are part of a health system; the lessons are transferrable to all hospitals.
	Health Care Leader Action Guide to Reduce Avoidable Readmissions - January 2010 This guide helps hospital leaders assess, prioritize, implement and monitor strategies to reduce avoidable readmissions during hospitalization, as well as at discharge and post-discharge.
	HRET Disparities Toolkit - updated in 2010 This toolkit provides a comprehensive approach to the collection of race, ethnicity and primary language data and offers guidance on how to improve quality of care and reduce health disparities.

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HRET/HPOE Guides and Reports