About Us

Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence (HPOE) is the American Hospital Association's strategic platform to accelerate performance improvement and support health reform implementation in the nation's hospitals and health systems. HPOE provides education on best practices through multiple channels, develops evidence-based tools and guides, offers leadership development through fellowships and networks, and engages hospitals in national improvement projects. HPOE brings providers together to improve performance in several areas, including care coordination/readmissions, healthcare-acquired infections, patient safety, and the development of new payment and care delivery models that promote quality and efficiency. Working in collaboration with allied hospital associations and national partners, HPOE synthesizes and disseminates knowledge, shares proven practices, and spreads improvement to support health reform implementation at the local level.

Education - Under HPOE, the AHA disseminates proven practices in performance improvement and health reform implementation through webinars, case studies and articles in AHA publications, and a dedicated web site - www.hpoe.org.
Tools and Guides - To support improvement in clinical and operational efficiency and effectiveness, a variety of toolkits and guides that provide resources and strategies are being produced. These publications, designed to be practical and action-oriented, help leaders readily identify the leading-edge practices and strategies that can help drive performance improvement in their organization. Representative topics include reducing avoidable readmissions, workforce practices, health information technology, capital planning, accountable care organizations, bundled payment and diversity.
Leadership Development - The nationally renowned AHA-NPSF Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship, now in its ninth year, prepares mid-career health care professionals to assume leadership roles in advancing patient safety and quality in health care organizations. This successful model is being applied to the development of a new fellowship program on health reform implementation and transformation, which will launch in 2011.
National Projects - The Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET) is engaging hospitals nationwide in a major expansion of its initiative to expand the implementation of the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) to help prevent health care-associated infections, such as central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). It is also collaborating with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to promote hospital use of AHRQ's patient safety resources. The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), another AHA affiliate, is leading Transforming Care at the Bedside, a nationwide initiative to help hospitals improve the quality and safety of patient care on medical and surgical units.

HPOE direction and guidance are provided by the HPOE National Leadership Council, which is comprised of nationally-recognized experts on health care transformation, quality and performance improvement, as well as hospital and health system senior executives, allied hospital association executives, and representatives from other national health care organizations.

HPOE National Leadership Council (as of June 21, 2010)

Raymond Grady (chair), Trustee, Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH; and member, AHA Board of Trustees
Victoria Alexander-Lane, President and CEO, Steele Memorial Medical Center, Salmon, ID
John Bluford, President and CEO, Truman Medical Centers, Kansas City, MO; and Chairman-Elect, American Hospital Association
Tucker Bonner, Senior Consultant, Public Affairs, Community Hospital Corporation, Temple, TX
Jane Chambers, Senior Vice President, Strategic Policy and Corporate Secretary, Federation of American Hospitals, Washington, DC
Kathy Ciccone, Vice President, Quality and Research Initiatives, Healthcare Association of New York State, Rensselaer, NY
Molly Coye, MD, Founder and CEO, Health Technology Center, San Francisco, CA
Susan DeVore, President and CEO, Premier, Inc., Charlotte, NC
Rick diFilippi, Trustee, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA; and Chairman, American Hospital Association
Larry Gage, President and CEO, National Association of Public Hospitals, Washington, DC
Trent Haywood, MD, Senior Vice President/Chief Medical Officer, VHA Inc., Irving, TX
Beverly Johnson, President and CEO, Institute for Family-Centered Care, Bethesda, MD
Sister Carol Keehan, President and CEO, The Catholic Health Association of the United States, Washington, DC
Linda Kenney, President and Executive Director, Medically-Induced Trauma Support Services (MITSS), Chestnut Hill, MA
Alan Kent, President and CEO, Meadows Regional Medical Center, Vidalia, GA
Darrell Kirch, MD, President and CEO, Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, DC
Douglas Leonard, President and CEO, Indiana Hospital Association, Indianapolis, IN
Eugene Litvak, PhD, President and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Optimization and Professor, Boston University School of Management, Newton, MA
Larry McAndrews, President and CEO, National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions, Alexandria, VA
Vi Naylor, Executive Vice President, Georgia Hospital Association, Marietta, GA
Chandler Ralph, President and Chief Executive Officer, Adirondack Medical Center, Saranac Lake, NY; and member, AHA Board of Trustees
Robert Rose, RN, MS, NEA-BC, Senior Vice President, Patient Services and Chief Nursing Officer, Bristol Hospital, Bristol, CT
Pamela Rudisill, MSN, MEd, RN, NEA-BC, CCRN, Vice-President, Nursing and Patient Safety, Health Management Associates, Inc., Mooresville, NC; and President, American Organization of Nurse Executives
William Santulli, Executive Vice President and COO, Advocate Health Care, Oak Brook, IL
Frank Sardone, President and CEO, Bronson Healthcare Group, Kalamazoo, MI
Carolyn Scanlan, President and CEO, Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA
Stephen Shortell, PhD, Dean, School of Public Health and Blue Cross of California Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA
Brock Slabach, MPH, FACHE, Senior Vice President for Member Services, National Rural Health Association, Kansas City, MO
Art Sponseller, President and CEO, Hospital Council of Northern and Central California, Sacramento, CA
Dan Stultz, MD, FACP, FACHE, President and CEO, Texas Hospital Association, Austin, TX
Elliott Sussman, MD, MBA, President and CEO, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, PA
Anthony Tersigni, President and CEO, Ascension Health, St. Louis, MO
Robert M. Wachter, MD, Professor and Chief, Division of Hospital Medicine and Associate Chairman, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA
Carol Wagner, RN, MBA, Vice President, Patient Safety, Washington State Hospital Association, Seattle, WA
Robert Wones, MD, Vice President and Chief Quality Officer, Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
Gary Yates, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Sentara Healthcare, Norfolk, VA

HPOE Staff Contacts

Maulik Joshi, Senior Vice President, Research, American Hospital Association and President, Health Research and Educational Trust, mjoshi@aha.org
David Strickland, Director, Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence, Health Research and Educational Trust, dstrickland@aha.org
Jennifer Towne, Director, Content and Knowledge Management, Health Research and Educational Trust, jtowne@aha.org