Educational and Training Organizations
Educational and training facilities such as medical schools, nursing schools, public health schools, and allied health programs play an important role in the U.S. healthcare industry because they are responsible for the education and training of healthcare employees. These institutions help formulate behaviors of the healthcare workforce.
Research Organizations
Governmental research organizations such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the CDC not only provide regulatory guidance but also perform research activities to improve health care. However, there are also private research organizations, such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation , the Pew Charitable Trusts , and the Commonwealth Fund , that support research efforts through grants.
Professional Associations
Professional associations play an important role in healthcare policy. There are associations that represent physicians, nurses, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and so on. Most healthcare stakeholders are represented by a professional organization that guides them regarding their role in the healthcare industry. They also play a large role in governmental regulations because they often lobby at all governmental levels to protect their constituents. The following are examples of professional associations that represent some of the major stakeholder organizations in this industry.
■ American Hospital Association (AHA) : The AHA is the most prominent association for all types of hospitals and healthcare networks. Founded in 1898, the AHA, which is a membership organization, provides education and lobbies for hospital representation in the political process at all governmental levels (AHA, 2016).
■ American Health Care Association (AHCA) : Founded in 1949, the AHCA is a membership organization that represents nonprofit and for-profit nursing and assisted-living facilities, subacute-care providers, and facilities for developmentally disabled individuals. Their focus is to monitor and improve standards of nursing home facilities (AHCA, 2016).
■ American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) : The AAHSA, which is a membership organization, represents nonprofit adult day care services, home healthcare services, community services, senior housing, assisted-living facilities, continuing-care retirement communities, and nursing homes. It lobbies at all governmental levels regarding legislation that can impact the industry and provides technical assistance for these organizations (AAHSA, 2016).