June 04, 2010 01:26am EST 

With their efforts in promoting excellence in health services through services in advocacy, education and information, the Mississippi Hospital Association stands as the leading advocate for hospitals in the state of Mississippi. In fact, over 100 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and their over 50,000 employees are members of the Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA). The MHA is the state organization that represents and serves all types of hospitals, health care networks, and their patients and communities. Through advocacy and representation, MHA works to promote members’ perspectives and needs in national and state health policy development, legislative and regulatory debates and judicial matters. They work in the legislative and executive branches the legislative and regulatory arenas.
MHA conducts direct advocacy at the state capitol in Jackson, promoting the need for strong, financially secure hospitals that communities can count on to provide quality, accessible, and affordable health care on a daily basis. In 2009, MHA fought for Medicaid by pursuing funding for $45 million in state money to help fill $90 million Medicaid funding deficit. They also advocated for clarity in Medicaid statuses that only the Legislature has authority to increase taxes, change payment methodologies, and decrease reimbursement rates, as well as removing mandatory cuts language from Medicaid statute. Additionally, they pursued additional legal protection for physicians participating in the state trauma system and other tort law issues. MHA also supported two UMC initiatives targeted at increasing the number of physicians in the state and addressing the shortage of specialty physicians across the state, as well as other issues involved with the workforce of the health care industry in Mississippi. Their leadership in advocacy shows their commitment to effectively serving the health care needs of Mississippi by serving the hospitals and employees that serve all of Mississippi.
MHA’s home website has also seen upgrades — efforts taken to relate better to social media. Included on the website are links to blogs, newsletters, and feeds from their Twitter and Facebook pages.