In an increasingly complex health care environment, it can be challenging to stay up to date on health care topics. Trying to be well-informed of every issue is understandably difficult for hospital board trustees who volunteer to serve in these positions and still must fulfill their obligations as respected members of the community. Newer trustees who may not have a health care background and are not familiar with the functions of a board of directors especially feel this burden.
To help address this challenge, GHA is pleased to offer our successful Hospital Leadership Training Program to all GHA-member hospitals and their boards.
Background
In 2018, the Georgia General Assembly passed H.B. 769, which created a training requirement for CEOs, CFOs and board or hospital authority members of rural hospitals to maintain eligibility for the Rural Hospital Tax Credit program and other state grants. This legislation also called for the establishment of the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center, which, among other duties, was given responsibility for the creation of training standards, approval of trainers, and monitoring of compliance with the program. See information on the training requirements and timelines from the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center.
GHA partnered with the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University to be jointly approved as trainers for the Hospital Leadership Training (HLT) Program. Experienced professors from Georgia Southern’s Master of Public Health and Master of Healthcare Administration programs developed the curriculum to meet the high standards of the Rural Health Innovation Center. They also deliver the training in person at select GHA meetings and virtually through live and recorded sessions. Over 500 leaders from 40 rural hospitals have participated in the HLT program to date.
Content
The core curriculum consists of 8 hours of training covering the following standards:
- Governance, Liability & Accountability (2 hours)
- Regulations/Legal (1.25 hours)
- Finance (1 hour)
- Compliance (45 minutes)
- Ethics (1.25 hours)
- Continuum of Care (30 minutes)
- Strategic Planning (1 hour)
- Grants (15 minutes)
Recertification credits can be earned through attendance at select GHA member meetings or webinars that have been approved by the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center. Examples of qualifying webinars from the past year include:
- Pursuing Health Equity Through Regulation and Reimbursement
- Driving Workplace Violence Prevention Through Strategy and Best Practices
- The No Surprises and Surprise Billing Consumer Protection Acts
- The Current State of Digital Marketing
- Georgia Litigation Update
- CMS Conditions of Participation series for Acute Care and Critical Access Hospitals
Methods of Delivery
The Hospital Leadership Training Program is designed to meet the demanding schedules of your leadership staff and trustees. Standard 1 training for new enrollees is offered live via webinar every month. Standards 2-8 can be completed via online, on-demand modules that can be accessed and completed at your convenience 24/7. If you need the program to come to you, that can be arranged for an additional fee.
After the initial certification, participants can complete the same courses to be recertified over the next two years or participate in qualified GHA webinars and GHA membership meetings throughout the year, such as the Annual Trustee Conference, Center for Rural Health meetings, and the GHA Summer Meeting. Recorded webinars are also available 24/7 via Georgia Southern’s learning management system, with new content updated on an ongoing basis.
Reporting
GHA tracks qualified credits and provides hospital executives and other designated staff a monthly report showing each participant’s status in completing initial certification, as well as continuing education credits earned toward recertification.
Cost
The program costs $2,500 per board annually with a two-year commitment. This cost covers initial certification board members and staff leadership, ongoing recertification training, full access to the online learning management system for on-demand training, tracking of credits, and reporting.
Eligibility
While the original program was developed for boards and executive leadership, you may include as many members of your leadership team as you would like.
To enroll your board in our Hospital Leadership Training program or request additional information, contact our education team at education@gha.org.