Membership

At the close of 2007, ACHE had the largest number of affiliates in its history—more than 35,000. Among their ranks were more than 4,500 new Members. During the 2007–2008 Convocation year, ACHE welcomed more than 1,700 new Fellows, a testament to the growing importance and recognition of board certification in healthcare management.

Contributing to ACHE’s growth and the value of the FACHE® credential is ACHE’s Leader-to-Leader Program. Through 1,100 Leader-to-Leader sponsors, more than 1,300 healthcare executives became affiliates or became board certified in healthcare management as ACHE Fellows in 2007.

International affiliates also contributed to ACHE’s membership growth, increasing by more than 6 percent. We support international affiliates through five healthcare executive groups and 32 ACHE international liaisons who serve as a resource for networking opportunities and questions concerning ACHE, including how to become board certified in healthcare management as an ACHE Fellow.

In 2007, ACHE made great strides in implementing a chapter structure to enhance healthcare executives’ opportunities for local educational and networking opportunities. By year end, ACHE had 83 chapters of which 79 had agreed to adopt the new combined membership structure, automatically making ACHE affiliates members at both the local and national levels. Our 83 chapters delivered nearly 500 education and networking events in 2007 with a total attendance of more than 24,000, providing more than 87,000 education and networking attendee hours.

ACHE also continues its commitment to developing the future leaders of our profession. For example, the Higher Education Network assists health administration programs with a variety of resources that enhance networking opportunities for students and provides access to continuing education and information about current healthcare management issues. Since being introduced in August 2006, the network has grown to include 142 colleges and universities.

Knowledge

In 2007, the Congress on Healthcare Leadership reached record numbers with nearly 5,000 attendees and more than 100 seminars. ACHE also introduced seven new educational seminars, seven new panel discussion templates for chapters and 19 webinars. In addition, affiliates took advantage of six online seminars and 52 On-Location programs.

Sponsored in part by the Fund for Innovation in Healthcare Leadership, the first Innovators Program was held and addressed the topic of supply-chain management. The program brought together experts within supply chain management to share strategies, articulate challenges and discuss ideas with a national cross-section of healthcare executives and supply-chain professionals.

Health Administration Press (HAP) also contributed to ongoing learning through the publication of 17 books, 10 journal issues and seven new or revised self-study courses. In total, HAP sold more than 58,000 publications, a record amount. Our affiliates and other subscribers continue to show their support for the Journal of Healthcare Management and Frontiers of Health Services Management, both of which are available online to subscribers at ache.org.

For the fourth year in a row, ACHE’s bimonthly magazine, Healthcare Executive, was ranked by executives as the “most useful to their job,” ahead of the four other leading publications in the field, according to the 2007 Affiliate Needs Survey. Each issue is posted in the Affiliates Only area of ache.org.

ACHE’s Web site continues to grow in importance. The site, ache.org, logged more than 1.2 million sessions in 2007. ACHE also continues to research the opinions of healthcare executives through focus groups and studies such as the Affiliate Needs Survey, the “Top Issues Confronting Hospitals” Survey and Futurescan.

For the fourth year in a row, ACHE’s bimonthly magazine, Healthcare Executive, was ranked by executives as the “most useful to their job…”

Career advancement

ACHE continues to provide workshops and other tools to help executives advance in their careers. We realize that making transitions is part of a healthcare executive’s career, and our goal is to make that easier. We also want to ensure that more people are informed about healthcare management, helping to grow the profession.

The Healthcare Executive Career Resource Center this year served nearly 1,000 affiliates, providing workshops, assessments and resume reviews. We also matched mentors and protégés through the Leadership Mentoring Network. This year, content on the Web was expanded to include a Mentoring Network Partnership Manual containing model documents and forms that can help establish, conduct and evaluate these partnerships. We also served many affiliates who were in career transitions through our online Job Bank and Resume Bank, which averaged more than 900 positions and 4,000 resumes per month, respectively.

To cultivate interest in the field, ACHE offers the HealthManagementCareers.org Web site, which is geared toward high school and college students seeking information about health management careers. The site provides many resources, including presentations that can be given to students by elected leaders and other affiliates. Launched in 2004, the Web site was accessed more than 89,000 times during the past year.

Finally, we are working to enhance executive search firm consultants’ understanding of the value of board certification in healthcare management and encouraging them to consider those candidates first. In 2007, 53 executive search firms said that those who have the FACHE credential have an advantage when filling executive management positions. We also run ads in Modern Healthcare and Healthcare Executive magazines highlighting their support.

In 2007, 53 executive search firms said they look first at those who have the FACHE credential when filling executive management positions.

leadership

ACHE enhances its service to the profession through its collaboration with many other organizations. In 2007, we collaborated with the following organizations:

• The Advisory Board Company
• American College of Physician Executives
• American Hospital Association
• American Organization of Nurse Executives
• Asian Health Care Leaders Association
• Association of University Programs in Health Administration
• Canadian College of Health Service Executives
• Center for Healthcare Governance
• Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education
• The Governance Institute
• Healthcare Financial Management Association
• Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society
• Institute for Diversity in Health Management
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement
• The Joint Commission
• Medical Group Management Association
• National Association of Health Services Executives
• National Forum of Latino Healthcare Executives
• National Patient Safety Foundation

Diversity continues to be an important value for the organization. ACHE supports it through our own programs, our support of the Institute for Diversity in Health Management and by periodically meeting with other organizations that are listed above. ACHE continues to see an increase in the proportion of women and minorities in ACHE, a reflection of the growing strength of our profession.

It is important for ACHE to continue educating our own affiliates and the public about the role of healthcare executives. We advertise in the “America’s Best Hospitals” issue of U.S. News & World Report, and we maintain our focus on major healthcare initiatives such as the uninsured and organ donation. Along with the current ethics information that already resides on ache.org, such as the Ethics Toolkit, policy statements and a self-assessment, we introduced a new ethical policy statement titled “Considerations for Healthcare Executive-Supplier Interactions.”

In 2007, we continued our efforts to educate trustees that ACHE affiliates can be distinguished by the FACHE credential, which signifies ethical conduct, commitment to lifelong learning, and leadership and management excellence. Advertisements in Trustee magazine serve to reinforce this message. We also exchange information with the Center for Healthcare Governance and The Governance Institute through columns in each of their publications and columns in Healthcare Executive.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE

The Corporate Partnerships Program continues to be successful, obtaining substantial corporate support in 2007. And the Fund for Innovation in Healthcare Leadership, a philanthropic initiative of the Foundation of ACHE, will continue its work by supporting programs on ethics and sustainability in the upcoming year.

We continue to provide ACHE staff with professional development opportunities that contribute to staff performance excellence and job satisfaction. Our commitment to quality is equally strong. Success in this area is documented in our quarterly Quality Report to the Board.

Going forward, healthcare and the role it plays in society will continue to evolve, and ACHE will evolve with it. ACHE will always be the personal membership society for healthcare executives striving for excellence in the field.

ACHE has been successful for 75 years because we have been able to help advance affiliates and healthcare management excellence. We are always looking for ways to serve you better. You are truly “Leaders Who Care.”

MG David A. Rubenstein, FACHE Chairman U.S. Army Falls Church, Va.		Alyson Pitman Giles, FACHE Immediate Past Chairman President and Chief Executive Officer Catholic Medical Center Manchester, N.H.
Charles R. Evans, FACHE chairman-Elect President and Chief Executive Officer International Health Services Group Alpharetta, Ga.		Thomas C. Dolan, PhD, FACHE, CAE President and Chief Executive Officer American College of Healthcare Executives Chicago, Ill.