Stronger Together: How MHA Helps Missouri Hospitals Thrive And Improve Care

Missouri’s hospitals are the backbone of their communities, and the Missouri Hospital Association is proud to serve as a trusted partner to hospitals and health systems statewide.

From advancing public policy that supports hospitals’ missions to creating learning opportunities to improve health and care, MHA remains committed to developing an environment where hospitals thrive and deliver exceptional care.

Advocating for hospitals

In 2025, MHA continued working with state and federal lawmakers and agencies to support policies that strengthen hospitals and allow innovation while blocking or delaying harmful proposals.

At the state level, MHA’s advocacy team supported prior authorization reform and budget initiatives and opposed attempts to undo 340B Drug Pricing Program contract pharmacy protections and other bills that would usher in emergency department staffing requirements. MHA partnered with hospital leaders to encourage and provide testimony on key legislation regarding these issues during the state legislative session. In addition, MHA was a tier-one stakeholder in Missouri’s Rural Health Transformation Program grant application.

At the federal level, MHA staff and hospital leaders also advocated to extend key Medicare payments, delay cuts to Disproportionate Share Hospital program payments and increase the Medicare physician fee schedule. MHA coordinated two federal advocacy visits to Washington, D.C., and facilitated hospital visits with state lawmakers in 2025. Twenty state lawmakers visited eight hospitals and members of Missouri’s congressional delegation also visited eight hospitals.

On the regulatory front, MHA’s staff continue to remove roadblocks in physician credentialing and improve the state’s Time Critical Diagnosis system. MHA and the Hospital Industry Data Institute are using data and stories to make the case for regulatory relief.

Delivering financial value

In 2025, MHA’s advocacy efforts helped direct millions in funding to support Missouri’s hospitals. Federal wage index work with hospital finance teams will increase Medicare payments in Missouri. State advocacy delivered provider tax relief, funds to offset some of the costs associated with behavioral health treatment and boarding, and workforce development. These efforts resulted in the following:

• $151 million in wage index adjustments
• $25 million for inpatient psychiatric care
• $20 million of general revenue for the Federal Reimbursement Allowance (used to partially fund Missouri's Medicaid program)
• $7.5 million for inpatient boarding (including funds for both behavioral health and developmental disabilities)
• $4 million for the Nursing Education Incentive Program (including general revenue and Board of Nursing funds)

Building a resilient workforce

Workforce development remains a top priority for MHA. In 2025, MHA established a broader vision for strategic workforce investments and programs built on these five pillars:

• workforce readiness and pipeline development
• empowering environment
• workplace safety
• leadership and professional development
• regulatory optimization

Thanks to the participation of Missouri’s hospitals, MHA once again developed its annual workforce report.

The 2025 Health Care Career Day drew nearly 15,000 students and 580 counselors and educators who engaged with nine hospitals. MHA’s Preceptor Academy and Clinical Faculty Academy, each held numerous times throughout the year, trained more than 600 participants.

Plus, 44 health care workers graduated from the 22nd Annual Health Care Leadership Series, and 200 individuals attended the Health Care Workforce Innovation Bi-State Summit, a partnership between the Missouri and Kansas hospital associations.

Educating and building trust

As public trust in institutions has declined, MHA is working hard to help policymakers and the public understand the importance of hospitals to their communities. In 2025, MHA launched a statewide #MoHospitalsCare storytelling campaign — featuring 125 hospitals so far.

MHA also is improving transparency by moving community benefit, quality and pricing data to a new hub at MissouriHealthMatters.com, a centralized resource for advocacy and public engagement.

Improving maternal health

MHA leads the Missouri Perinatal Quality Collaborative to improve maternal health outcomes. Fifty-five hospital birthing teams have partnered with the MO PQC, which educated 637 stakeholders through in-person events in 2025.

MO PQC this year launched Ask Me 5 — an initiative encouraging open patient-provider conversations. More than 90 providers have pledged to participate in this program.

Sharing knowledge and fostering innovation

Education and collaboration are core to MHA’s mission. In 2025, MHA delivered educational programming to 7,219 hospital team members, including its Annual Convention, which brought together more than 680 attendees.

In addition, HIDI expanded its data capabilities to deliver member value by implementing new Patient Safety, MO PQC and Hospital Performance Insights dashboards.

HIDI also recently announced its partnership with Hyve Health for the Payer Performance Initiative and a pilot program for the Vitality Index Payer Scorecard, a real-time tool that benchmarks payer performance, identifies friction points and improves transparency in payer relationships. More than 15 hospitals have enrolled in this program.

Why membership matters

MHA is committed to helping hospitals achieve their current and future missions by ensuring our expertise, tools and leadership are focused on today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. Learn more about the value of MHA membership, and read MHA’s 2025 membership impact report.