IHA Daily Briefing: April 26
In Today’s Issue
Register: Complimentary IHA Health Equity Webinar Series Starts May 20
Humboldt Park Health Becomes IL’s First Health-Equity Certified Hospital
AHRQ Guide: Support Equity Through Digital Healthcare Technology
Pritzker Announces Plan to Address Racial Disparities in Homelessness
Class I Recall: DeRoyal GeoMed Custom Tracecart
COVID-19 Information
Briefly Noted
Leading the News
Register: Complimentary IHA Health Equity Webinar Series Starts May 20
Peer-to-peer learning has become important to the hospital community’s efforts to advance health equity. IHA’s complimentary webinar series, “Health Equity in Action: Practical Strategies & Shared Learnings,” will showcase the successful initiatives of Carle Health, Cook County Health, Riverside Healthcare and UChicago Medicine, with a focus on implementation and key strategies.
The webinar series will kick off on May 20, followed by sessions on June 6 and June 24. Hospital leaders and staff will discuss their work during the first two sessions. In the final session, IHA quality improvement (QI) experts will present a QI framework and approach for adopting the initiatives in any hospital or health system, regardless of size or location.
The QI approach will focus on the four domains in the IHA Racial Equity in Healthcare Progress Report: Our People, Our Patients, Our Organization and Our Community.
Each webinar, from noon-1 p.m. CT, will offer time for:
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Engaging with presenters and asking questions about the health system initiatives discussed; and
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Having an open dialogue on key activities, successes and implementation challenges.
Hospital and health system leaders and staff organization-wide are encouraged to attend, including those in administration, operations, finance, quality improvement, human resources, strategy and business development, legal affairs, compliance, public relations, government relations, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
There is no fee to attend. After registering, you'll receive login information for all three webinars. IHA will provide follow-up materials after each session. Register today.
Contact HealthEquity@team-iha.org with questions.
Humboldt Park Health Becomes IL’s First Health-Equity Certified Hospital
Humboldt Park Health, formerly known as Norwegian American Hospital, announced this week that it is the first hospital in Illinois, as well as the fist in the Midwest, to receive the Healthcare Equity (HCE) Certification from The Joint Commission (TJC). Humboldt Park Health is the thirteenth hospital in the country to receive this recognition.
TJC’s Healthcare Equity Certification Program acknowledges organizations that prioritize healthcare equity as a strategic imperative. It recognizes institutions that collaborate with patients, families, caregivers, and external stakeholders to identify and address healthcare disparities, ultimately leading to improved health outcomes for all communities.
For more information on obtaining certification and funding opportunities, you can view the recording of IHA’s recent webinar with both TJC and Meridian Health Plan in IHA’s Health Equity Resource Hub. As a reminder, Meridian is offering in-network hospitals financial support through 2025 for pursuing HCE certification. The webinar recording outlines Meridian’s incentive program, as well as what’s needed to submit your HCE certification application and the review process from TJC Certification leaders.
For questions about IHA’s health equity programs and resources, please contact HealthEquity@team-iha.org.
AHRQ Guide: Support Equity Through Digital Healthcare Technology
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently released a guide to assist heath systems in advancing equity in healthcare solutions involving digital technologies. The guide highlights the impact the “digital divide” can have on patients and clinicians. Considerations ranging from a lack of patient digital literacy to lack of broadband access are practical realities that impact the viability of healthcare solutions involving digital technologies and tools. AHRQ emphasized that, “Omitting equity considerations throughout the lifecycle of digital healthcare technologies can create new or exacerbate existing healthcare disparities.”
Pritzker Announces Plan to Address Racial Disparities in Homelessness
Yesterday, the Pritzker Administration announced the release of a comprehensive report on Black homelessness in Illinois. This study offers an analysis of the systemic factors driving racial disparities in homelessness, and formulates an Action Plan for Racial Equity (APRE). The report underscored that Black Illinoisans are almost eight times more likely to experience homelessness compared to their white counterparts. This issue is exacerbated by significantly higher eviction rates observed in Black communities, which directly contribute to their increased risk of homelessness.
The action plan is a multifaceted approach designed to address key challenges—including increasing investments in affordable and permanent supportive housing, enhancing the safety net with robust support services, and implementing policies aimed at closing the financial stability and mortality gaps that disproportionately affect Black communities. Gov. JB Pritzker has earmarked $250 million in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget to support implementation of the plan, which supports the overall efforts of Home Illinois. This a $50 million increase from FY24 funding.
Class I Recall: DeRoyal GeoMed Custom Tracecart
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has identified a Class I recall of the DeRoyal GeoMed Custom Tracecart. The DeRoyal Tracecart is a general surgery tray that includes surgical drape and drape accessories used during surgical procedures to maintain a sterile field, provide a barrier against contamination, and aid in the organization of surgical instruments and supplies. DeRoyal is recalling certain Surgical Tracecarts that contain a Nurse Assist 16FR Silver Urine Meter Foley in direct response to Nurse Assist LLC’s recall over sterility concerns. The rest of the items contained in the tracecart are not affected or impacted by this recall. There have been no reported injuries and no reports of death.
COVID-19 Information
The Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) has launched a weekly Infectious Respiratory Disease Surveillance Dashboard that will be updated weekly on Friday. This report provides the public with the latest data on hospital visits, seasonal trends, lab test positivity and demographic data.
Click here to visit the IDPH COVID-19 resources webpage. IDPH will continue to report the weekly number of people with COVID-19 admitted to hospitals from emergency departments, deaths and vaccinations, with COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus information also reported through the dashboard of the Illinois Wastewater Surveillance System.
Briefly Noted
A majority of pregnant individuals, or those trying to become pregnant, indicated they were interested in getting a maternal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine once it becomes available, according to a recent survey published in Pediatrics. Fifty-four percent of respondents indicated they were “very likely” to get vaccinated against RSV during pregnancy. Study authors noted that, “Raising awareness of RSV infection as likely and potentially serious for infants may be an influential component of targeted communications that promote RSV vaccine uptake during pregnancy.”
Do nonprofit hospitals sidestep FTC’s noncompete ban?
Becker’s Hospital Review reported (4/25) that, “The Federal Trade Commission voted to implement a sweeping noncompete ban that would have seismic effects on the healthcare industry and the U.S. economy more broadly. But questions remain around which nonprofit hospitals and other providers may be affected by the ban and how far the FTC’s jurisdiction reaches under its final rule.”
The case against retention bonuses
Becker’s Hospital Review reported (4/25) that, “Sign-on and retention bonuses have become increasingly popular in hospitals, according to recent surveys. Over the course of 2023, 70% of hospitals implemented or bolstered sign-on bonuses to address talent recruitment and retention. Nearly one-fifth of jobs in the industry offer welcome or sign-on bonuses: more than any other sector, averaging $10,867 each.”
Gen Z nurses commit to work at this hospital: How its CNO aims to keep them
Becker’s Hospital Review reported (4/25) that, “When Jonna Jenkins, DNP, arrived at Hutchinson (Kan.) Regional Hospital in 2022, she was shocked to learn that the facility did not have a strong relationship with the town’s community college.”