The American Health Law Association (AHLA) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that professio ...

for attorneys and other professionals in the

healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

field. Its membership numbers approximately 12,500. The AHLA was created on July 1, 1997, through the merger of the two pre-eminent existing membership associations for health lawyers: the National Health Lawyers Association (NHLA) and the American Academy of Healthcare Attorneys (AAHA) combined into a single organization, AHLA. AHLA is headquartered at 1620 Eye Street NW,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

20006-4010.

Mission

Its mission is "to provide a collegial forum for interaction and

information exchange Information exchange or information sharing means that people or other entities pass information from one to another. This could be done electronically or through certain systems. These are terms that can either refer to bidirectional ''informa ...

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."

Formation

The roots of AHLA can be traced back to 1967 when the American Hospital Association (AHA) created a membership association for hospital

attorney Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...

s to encourage communication and education about hospital legal issues—the American Society for Hospital Attorneys. The Society eventually became the American Academy of Healthcare Attorneys (the "Academy")and grew to a membership of 3,300 attorneys, approximately one-third of whom were

in-house counsel A corporate lawyer or corporate counsel is a type of lawyer who specializes in corporate law. Corporate lawyers working inside and for corporations are called in-house counsel. Roles and responsibilities The role of a corporate lawyer is to ...

at hospitals, health plans, and other entities in American health care; attorneys from private law firms and government agencies constituted the balance of the membership . The Academy sponsored major educational programs and publications, and 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 A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

managed care The term managed care or managed healthcare is used in the United States to describe a group of activities intended to reduce the cost of providing health care and providing American health insurance while improving the quality of that care ("man ...

organizations, home health agencies, and

long term care facilities A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...

. Over time, the NHLA grew to over 8,500 members, producing educational programs and publications, including the Health Law Digest. In 1996, leaders of the Academy and NHLA began discussions about merging the two organizations whose missions had grown together as the healthcare landscape changed over time with vertical integration and common issues. On July 1, 1997, NHLA and the Academy merged, adopting an interim name "NHLA/AAHA." In 1998, its name was changed to the American Health Lawyers Association. In 2020, the name was changed to American Health Law Association.

References

{{Authority control Health law in the United States Law-related professional associations Health care-related professional associations based in the United States