SELECTION CRITERIA

Abstracts will be reviewed and selected based on:

• Relevance to the current health care environment and essential hospitals
• Focus on essential hospital services or community population
• Emphasis on improving health care outcomes
• Ability to be replicated or sustained in other essential hospitals
• Quantifiable outcome data and a description of methodology
• Clarity and quality of written abstract

SESSION TYPES

The conference will feature three session types. For all sessions, we strongly encourage active audience engagement and an emphasis on key takeaways and tools attendees can apply to their work. The innovation committee reserves the right to combine proposals, modify the session type, or otherwise shape the content to deliver the best programming possible.

60-Minute Critical Conversation

Designed to spark conversation among participants, these sessions typically have shorter formal presentations and longer open discussion among participants. We suggest one to two speakers and encourage no more than 45 minutes of prepared material followed by 15 minutes for Q&A.

30 Minute Mini-Session

These highly focused sessions are case studies on one topic or experience. They typically feature only one presenter but may have two. We encourage no more than 15–20 minutes of prepared material and 10–15 minutes for Q&A.

Poster Presentation

Posters typically focus on research projects, operational issues, or other evidence-based practice initiatives. They should have clearly measurable outcomes and sound methodology. Proposals accepted for the poster session must identify up to two authors to attend the conference to answer questions about their project during a designated poster session. The selection committee might recommend that oral presentations be presented as a poster instead.

SESSION TRACKS

Abstracts must fit into one of four tracks. If an abstract can fit into multiple tracks, select the track with which the abstract best aligns. The review committee will consider how an abstract fits within the tracks and reserves the right to move an abstract to another track.

Executive Leadership Lessons

Abstracts should target the technical and interpersonal skills necessary to lead complex and evolving hospitals and health systems dedicated to serving their communities. Abstracts may focus on:

• Lessons learned from leadership experiences and the importance of strategic partnerships
• Advancing health outcomes
• Culture change
• Creating and maintaining a resilient, highly skilled, and competent workforce
• Building trust with the community, including by dispelling misinformation
• Navigating financial challenges

Policy and Finance

Abstracts should focus on current public policy and financial issues important to essential hospitals. If possible, abstracts should highlight innovations to maximize resources that can be scaled and replicated across essential hospitals. Topics may include:

• Safety net financing, including Medicaid and Medicare payment policy
• Graduate medical education
• Advancing health outcomes
• The 340B Drug Pricing Program
• Digital health, virtual health, and cybersecurity
• State-level policy developments
• Value-based purchasing and other alternative payment models

Innovations in Health Care

Abstracts should showcase promising programs that demonstrate groundbreaking initiatives in caring for under-resourced populations and ensuring outcomes that promote access to high-value, patient-centered care. Programs that involve digital and virtual health, advances in technology, and artificial intelligence are highly encouraged. Practical innovations that deliver measurable, positive results are welcome.

Abstracts also may focus on:

• Integrating clinical practice into the health system’s overarching mission and goals
• Quality improvement
• Patient engagement, family experience, and trust
• Managing operations during a public health threat or crisis
• Delivering comprehensive, coordinated care across ambulatory networks to bring services to patients where they live and work

Population and Community-Integrated Health Care

Abstracts should emphasize programs and practices that address the social and economic barriers influencing health outcomes in a defined population or community. Successful abstracts will highlight initiatives aimed at improving outcomes by actively engaging both internal and external stakeholders to meet the needs of patients and the broader community.

This category emphasizes the importance of collaborative approaches to improving population health by addressing the root causes of poor health outcomes. This includes health care providers’ work with other sectors in both complementary and collaborative ways to improve health, as part of a connected system that meets the physical, mental, and social needs of individuals and improves the structures and conditions that influence these needs.

Key focus areas can include:

• Leveraging policies and procedures at the hospital, local, state, and federal levels to enhance community well-being
• Expanding access to health care and preventative services to ensure comprehensive care for all community members
• Strengthening relationships with community-based organizations to foster collaboration, build trust, and empower local entities
• Implementing innovative financing models to sustainably support health improvement efforts
• Forming cross-sector partnerships to address complex health challenges
• Developing a learning organization able to rapidly deploy best practices
• Aligning community benefit investment with population health efforts (e.g., the intersection of essential hospitals and community partners, such as public health departments, housing providers, health centers, and faith-based entities)

GENERAL TIPS AND RESOURCES

We recognize methodology and data can vary greatly depending on the type of session and track; whenever possible, please identify the initiative’s evidence-based outcomes. If an abstract focuses on a new initiative that does not yet have outcomes, indicate the evaluation plan with its measures, expected results, and goals. Clearly state the intervention and anticipated outcomes.

Application Deadline