EDUCATION & NETWORKING

2022 Highlights

• 94% of member hospitals attended at least one AHA educational event in 2022, up 11% from 2021, with over 3,600 individuals attending inperson and virtual events.

• Partnered with 19 hospital associations across the country to offer a virtual leadership series promoting a new focus on patient care. Speaker fees for the series totaled $30,000. By partnering with other hospital associations, the series was offered at an affordable, minimal cost to AHA members. Continuing medical education and continuing nursing education were offered at no additional cost.

• The AHA Continuing Nursing Education Approved Provider Unit (APU) submitted its application for Approved Providership in the fall. Approval would be for 2023-2026. The APU also submitted the Annual Report for activities held in 2022 through the Midwest MSD Professional Development – Approver Unit. The AHA Provider Unit passed the review process. The Provider Unit is approved through January 31, 2023.

• Provided 26+ complimentary or discounted online education opportunities through partnerships with other hospital associations.

WHAT’S NEW?

• Held a full-day cybersecurity workshop featuring the American Hospital Association's national advisor for cybersecurity and risk, the FBI, and a panel of Arkansas hospital CEOs discussing cyber attacks at their facilities.

• Convened the Workplace Violence Collaborative and established a schedule of monthly meetings for the group to share information, resources, and expertise.

• Affiliated Group events now offer online registrations! After taking AHA event registrations digital, we now offer online registrations for affiliated group events. This includes both online credit card payments (for those groups that have opted to accept credit cards) and a pay-later option for invoicing. Online registrants receive an immediate email confirmation of all registrations and payment transactions.

• Renegotiated the emergency preparedness grant with the Arkansas Department of Health to offer one conference on hospital preparedness as well as a planning conference for the state’s 41 hospital regional leaders and other preparedness partners statewide.

• Offered more than 130 hours of continuing education on topics including: compliance, engineering, human resources, materials management, legal issues, long-term care, medical staff services, nursing, risk management, quality, and coding. This included 7.5 hours of face-to-face American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) education, 48 hours of qualified education, and 14 networking hours, per ACHE requirements.

• Provided staff assistance to 13 affiliated organizations, to produce virtual events, newsletters, websites, listservs, board meetings, conference calls, communications to members, and other information of benefit to their members with over 500 hours of work time.

BACK IN PERSON!

• The AHA Annual Meeting made its much-anticipated return this year, after two years canceled due to COVID-19. The two-day event featured a dynamic Keynote Address by Ginger Zee, educational sessions on an array of topics, lots of fun giveaways, and an awards luncheon to honor our hospitals’ amazing work this year.

• The annual two-day Emergency Preparedness Forum was held in-person after two years of cancellation due to COVID-19. Presentations focused on trauma and resilience, cybersecurity, Joint Commission compliance standards for emergency management, identifying suicide risk, hazmat patient decontamination, Arkansas federal surplus property, and updates from the HHS Region VI project officer and the Arkansas Department of Health. The AHA secured $44,800 in Healthcare Preparedness Program (HPP) grant funds for this event.

• The AHERT Leadership Conference also returned after a twoyear hiatus and featured sessions on the importance of leadership in health care, resilience through times of chaos, and how to effectively lead the next generation of employees. Attendees and guests also enjoyed fellowship and networking events, including cheering on the Naturals and the Travelers at "A Night at the Ballpark" and practicing their golf swings at Top Golf.