AHCA Partners with Administration, Fellow Providers on Improving Patient Care 

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Washington, DC

— Governor Mark Parkinson, President and CEO of the American Health Care Association (AHCA), pledged his support today for the national partnership for patients that aims to halt millions of preventable injuries and complications in patient care over the next three years. Parkinson was a featured speaker at the kick-off meeting of the Partnership for Patients – National Priorities Partnership (NPP), a gathering of national leaders in the healthcare profession that are committed to the new public-private partnership initiated by the Obama Administration via theAffordable Care Act.

“Through the Partnership for Patients initiative, President Obama and Secretary Sebelius have made a strong statement to our nation regarding patient quality, safety and affordability. The long term care profession is focused on and invested in meeting those goals,” stated Parkinson.

“This is not just an initiative for hospitals; nursing facilities also play an integral role in helping patients as they recover and rehabilitate from being in the hospital, or when they require long term care. Therefore, we can help play an equally vital role in accomplishing the goals of Partnership for Patients and look forward to working with the Administration and other providers and patient advocacy organizations to make this initiative a success.”

Dedicated to two main goals – keeping hospital patients from getting injured or sicker and helping patients heal without complication – Partnership for Patients has set ambitious goals and has the potential to reduce costs to Medicare by about $50 billion and result in billions more in Medicaid savings over the next ten years. 

At the national kick-off event, Parkinson stated the importance of the long term care profession in reducing unnecessary rehospitalizations for our nation’s seniors. The long term care community, he noted, has already elevated the issue of rehospitalizations on both a quality and budgetary level. To assist members in their efforts AHCA recently created a new Quality and Regulatory Department headed by David Gifford, MD, MPH.

“Patient safety and quality of life is a key focus of our members every day,” commented Dr. Gifford. “The goals of the Partnership for Patients are aligned with the efforts of AHCA as we gather best practices and find ways to aid providers in reducing rehospitalizations.” Dr. Gifford will also attend the Partnership for Patients – NPP meeting as it continues through Friday, June 17.

For more information on Partnership for Patients, please visit

http://www.healthcare.gov/center/programs/partnership/index.html

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As the nation’s largest association of long term and post-acute care providers, the American Health Care Association (AHCA) advocates for quality care and services for frail, elderly and disabled Americans. Compassionate and caring employees provide essential care to one million individuals in our 11,000 not-for-profit and proprietary member facilities.