The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) announced Monday the launch of a new public awareness campaign focused on making sure patients and families in Virginia “know their rights to help them make informed medical decisions.”
VHHA is an alliance of 111 hospitals and 26 health delivery systems that “develops and advocates for sound health care policy” in Virginia.
VHHA’s new Control Your Care campaign includes a website that contains “easy-to-understand information about consumer-focused health care reforms, links to state and federal laws and descriptions of what the laws do, and other tools to serve the public.”
The campaign will be supported with statewide digital and broadcast advertising.
The launch of the campaign comes after VHHA conducted statewide polling and focus group research to determine how familiar Virginians are with the bills passed by state and federal lawmakers concerning healthcare.
The polling and research concluded that a “vast majority of Virginians” are unaware of existing laws concerning healthcare, however, a majority say they want more awareness about such laws.
“Patients are at the center of everything we do at hospitals. Their well-being is our utmost priority,” Eric Deaton, Ballad Health Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, who serves as Chair of the VHHA Board of Directors, said in a statement. “We strive to make patients active participants in their care through open dialogue and sharing information. The ‘Control Your Care’ campaign is a natural extension of that approach and an investment in helping equip Virginians with information they can use in personal health care decision making.”
VHHA President and CEO Sean T. Connaughton added, “The commitment Virginia hospitals make to patients extends beyond providing high quality care, improving public health, and saving lives. It also involves helping people better understand the health care delivery system. Just as hospitals have taken a leading role in expanding access to care through funding Medicaid expansion and protecting community health during emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now investing resources to inform Virginians about health care reform laws that benefit patients by launching the ‘Control Your Care’ campaign.”
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
