American Health Lawyers Association
Encyclopedia
American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA) is a non-profit
professional association which works with legal issues in the healthcare field with around 10,000 members. The AHLA was created on July 1, 1997, when the National Health Lawyers Association (NHLA) and the American Academy of Healthcare Attorneys (AAHA) combined into a single organization. The AHLA is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
to enable its members to serve their clients more effectively; to produce the highest quality nonpartisan educational programs, products, and services concerning health law
issues; and to serve as a public resource on selected healthcare legal issues."
(AHA) decided to start an association for hospital attorney
s who desired a forum to communicate about healthcare issues.
The Society subsequently grew and underwent several name changes, eventually to the American Academy of Healthcare Attorneys (the “Academy”). The final name change took place in 1983. The Academy ultimately grew to a membership of 3,300 attorneys, approximately one-third of whom were in-house counsel at hospitals, health plans, and other entities in American health care. The Academy remained a component of the AHA until it combined with the National Health Lawyers Association in 1997.
The National Health Lawyers Association (NHLA) was formed in 1971 as a nonprofit educational organization whose membership included health attorneys who represented hospital
s, physician
s, managed care
organizations, home health agencies, long term care facilities. Over time, the NHLA grew to over 7,000 members producing educational programs and publications, including the Health Law Digest.
Beginning in 1996, leaders of both the Academy and the NHLA began talks on merging the two organizations and on July 1, 1997, the NHLA and the Academy merged. At first the combined organization was called the NHLA/AAHA, but in 1998, the name was changed to the American Health Lawyers Association.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
professional association which works with legal issues in the healthcare field with around 10,000 members. The AHLA was created on July 1, 1997, when the National Health Lawyers Association (NHLA) and the American Academy of Healthcare Attorneys (AAHA) combined into a single organization. The AHLA is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Mission
Its mission is "to provide a collegial forum for interaction and information exchangeInformation exchange
Information exchange is an informal term that can either refer to bidirectional information transmission/information transfer in telecommunications and computer science or communication seen from a system-theoretic or information-theoretic point of view....
to enable its members to serve their clients more effectively; to produce the highest quality nonpartisan educational programs, products, and services concerning health law
Health law
Health Law is the federal, state, and local law, rules, regulations and other jurisprudence affecting the health care industry and their application to health care patients, providers and payors, and vendors to the health care industry, including without limitation the relationships among...
issues; and to serve as a public resource on selected healthcare legal issues."
Formation
The roots of AHLA can be traced back to 1967 when the American Hospital AssociationAmerican Hospital Association
The American Hospital Association is an organization that promotes the quality provision of health care by hospitals and health care networks through such efforts as promoting effective public policy and providing information related to health care and health administration to health care...
(AHA) decided to start an association for hospital attorney
Attorney at law
An attorney at law in the United States is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court on the retainer of clients. Alternative terms include counselor and lawyer...
s who desired a forum to communicate about healthcare issues.
The Society subsequently grew and underwent several name changes, eventually to the American Academy of Healthcare Attorneys (the “Academy”). The final name change took place in 1983. The Academy ultimately grew to a membership of 3,300 attorneys, approximately one-third of whom were in-house counsel at hospitals, health plans, and other entities in American health care. The Academy remained a component of the AHA until it combined with the National Health Lawyers Association in 1997.
The National Health Lawyers Association (NHLA) was formed in 1971 as a nonprofit educational organization whose membership included health attorneys who represented hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
s, physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
s, managed care
Managed care
...intended to reduce unnecessary health care costs through a variety of mechanisms, including: economic incentives for physicians and patients to select less costly forms of care; programs for reviewing the medical necessity of specific services; increased beneficiary cost sharing; controls on...
organizations, home health agencies, long term care facilities. Over time, the NHLA grew to over 7,000 members producing educational programs and publications, including the Health Law Digest.
Beginning in 1996, leaders of both the Academy and the NHLA began talks on merging the two organizations and on July 1, 1997, the NHLA and the Academy merged. At first the combined organization was called the NHLA/AAHA, but in 1998, the name was changed to the American Health Lawyers Association.