Associate Membership

The region's healthcare leaders working together toward solutions to the tri-state Greater Philadelphia area's healthcare issues - that's the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council of HAP.

As one of the nation's largest regional healthcare organizations, DVHC is building on a tradition of collaboration and partnership dating to 1946, whether in facing emerging challenges or seizing new opportunities for members.

Under the Council's umbrella, leaders of provider organizations including:

• health systems
• hospitals
• home health organizations
• nursing homes
• physician group practices
• provider-based health plans

and other partners in the continuum of care work to improve our community's health status; advance the appropriate restructuring of the delivery system; identify and resolve issues involving managed care; develop new approaches to increase the health system's efficiency; reduce the cost of care; and advocate for the tools to strengthen community-based quality patient care.

As a member-driven organization, DVHC is governed by an 18-person board of directors. In addition, members have many opportunities to guide DVHC policy through the Council's committees, task forces, quarterly regional meetings for chief executive officers, and special membership meetings. And, DVHC's service-oriented staff are always just a phone call away.

Through DVHC as well as by its affiliations with state and national healthcare organizations, members have the opportunity to express their viewpoint on issues under debate in federal and state levels.

In addition to healthcare providers, DVHC also welcomes healthcare-related businesses, such as law firms, healthcare consultants, managed care organizations, accounting firms, etc., to become corporate members.

Corporate membership benefits include opportunities to network with healthcare leaders, access to a regional monthly healthcare utilization database, copies of DVHC reports and publications, participation as co-hosts and faculty of DVHC educational seminars, and many other benefits.

All DVHC members benefit from specific services including advocacy and representation; technical assistance; communication; and education and membership participation.

Advocacy and Representation

In cooperation with our state and national partners, such as The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP), DVHC represents the interests of healthcare organizations in the tri-state Greater Philadelphia region with the legislative, executive and judicial branches of state and federal government. We work with local government through county commissioners, county health departments, and city officials to represent regional interests.

Specific services include direct representation, regional events, coordinating grassroots political action by members and legislative analysis and communication.

DVHC is providing legal services to members through its group initiatives by which affected members join in collective litigation. This approach results in a substantial cost saving to each organization involved, and no cost impact to DVHC dues.

The Council is in the forefront of the battle to reform Medicare and Medicaid, and serves as a data and information resource for our region's legislative leaders, on the federal state and local levels.

The Council also is a leader in helping to guide the changes in the region's healthcare delivery system.

As part of this effort, Council initiatives have addressed worker displacement through pilot job retraining programs; explored growing our patient-base through an international marketing opportunity; and worked with legislators on issues involving utilization management, network development, credentialling, and others.

Community Health

The Community Health Improvement Project (CHIP) assists members in efforts to improve the health status of their communities. Through CHIP, DVHC offers consultation, technical assistance, presentations and facilitation services regarding health status assessments, community health partnerships, health improvement interventions and community health benchmarking.

The CHIP has developed a database of regional foundations interested in community health and health improvement initiatives, a directory of local community health assessment and research services and a database of community health indicators and instruments.

Communication

DVHC works hard to keep its membership informed on issues affecting the interests of the region's hospitals and health systems.

The primary membership communication vehicle is Update, a weekly newsletter that contains state and regional information of value and interest to the members. In addition, member chief executive officers receive "News You Should Know About," a weekly update on key issues targeted exclusively for CEOs. In addition, periodic special memorandums provide relevant information on ongoing issues affecting healthcare organizations.

Information Services

DVHC provides members with state-of-the-art information on managed care and utilization of healthcare resources. We sponsor the major regional compensation survey and the Quality Indicator Project for the region. Council reports have documented initial emergency room and inpatient denials and analyzed other utilization review practices.

Managed Care Services

DVHC offers members a wide array of services regarding managed care organizations. We distribute a regular report on the penetration of managed care organizations in the region, broken down by county and by company. We provide occasional reports on managed care profitability, growth and other trend data. We also conduct research on managed care utilization criteria and trends, liaison on behalf of members with managed care organizations, and advocate before regulatory agencies, such as the state Department of Public Welfare and federal Health Care Financing Administration.

DVHC is also leading the effort to both document and develop initatives to respond to inappropriate utilization management practices by some regional insurers.

Member Services

Membership carries with it a depth of other services, such as participation in consumer market satisfaction surveys, outreach to the media and general public, partnerships with business groups such as the regional Chambers of Commerce and Pennsylvania Economy League, and hands-on working relationships with city and county health departments.

More than 1,000 people a year attend DVHC's educational seminars designed to keep your staff up-to-date with the latest trends in healthcare. Our program offerings have included the continuum of care, Medicare billing requirements, development of provider networks, at-risk contracting, and executive compensation packages, to mention just a few. The programs are developed with members input and are a low cost source of education close to home.

Technical Assistance

DVHC professional staff routinely assist members by providing information and guidance in understanding and complying with various legislative, regulatory and legal issues.

DVHC continually encourages its members to look to the Council and its staff as a resource on a wide range of issues, including insurance, communications and public relations, community health improvement and data.

To Join

These are just a few of the benefits to belonging to one of the region's most dynamic organizations - the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council. Call 215-735-9695 or email today for more information. Please include your name, organization, mailing address, phone number and brief description of your organization so we can send you the appropriate information.