American Health Care Association
| Legal status | trade association |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 1201 L Street NW |
| Location |
|
|
Membership
|
11,000 facilities |
|
Official language
|
English |
|
CEO/President
|
Mark Parkinson |
| Website | www |
The American Health Care Association (AHCA) is a non-profit federation of affiliated state health organizations, together representing more than 10,000 non-profit and for-profit assisted living, nursing facility, developmentally-disabled, and subacute care providers that care for more than 1.5 million elderly and disabled individuals nationally. AHCA was founded in 1949 and is based in Washington, D.C. The National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) is part of AHCA.
AHCA/NCAL works with Congress and the Federal government to advocate for long term care services. Membership is open to small and large health care facilities as well as long term care administrators, directors of nursing, certified nursing assistants, and facility owners and operators.
Currently, the CEO/President of AHCA is Mark Parkinson, former Governor of Kansas. NCAL's CEO/President is Dave Kyllo.
AHCA publishes a weekly member-only email newsletter called Capitol Connection and a separate monthly magazine titled Provider. The publications include breaking news and legislative progress on regulations and issue affecting the long term care industry. The association also offers professional development, educational, and networking opportunities. AHCA/NCAL established their Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes campaign in 2007 to improve care quality in nursing homes.
The AHCA established the National Nursing Home Week in 1967. This is a week-long observance recognizing nursing homes. It is held in May and begins on Mother's Day, the second Sunday of May.
AHCA/NCAL serves skilled nursing care centers in improving the quality of care provided to residents. AHCA provides facilities with resources and solutions for quality improvement such as Quality Reports, the Quality Award Program, a Leadership Excellence program, Gero Nurse Prep, and Nurse Assistant Training. In February 2012, AHCA/NCAL introduced The Quality Initiative-an effort that builds upon existing work the long term and post-acute care field is doing by setting specific, measurable targets to further improve quality of care in American's nursing and assisted living centers. The four main goals of The Quality Initiative are:
1. Safely Reduce Hospital Readmissions: By March 2012, reduce the number of hospital readmissions within 30 days during a SNF stay by 15 percent.
2. Increase Staff Stability: By March 2015, reduce turnover among nursing staff (RN, LPN/LVN, CNA) by 15 percent.
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