IHA Daily Briefing: April 23
In Today’s Issue
Register: IHA/ICAHN Webinar on New Pediatric Requirements Is April 30
New HIPAA Privacy Rule Prohibits Reproductive Healthcare Disclosures
ISMP Adds to List of Error-Prone Medical Abbreviations
HHS Answers HIPAA Questions Following Change Healthcare Cyberattack
COVID-19 Information
Briefly Noted
Leading the News
Register: IHA/ICAHN Webinar on New Pediatric Requirements Is April 30
A complimentary webinar next week will outline new requirements for hospitals that lack licensed pediatric beds yet want to provide inpatient or observation care for patients up to 14 years old.
Staff from the Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) will lead the April 30 webinar from 1-2 p.m. CT. With new IDPH regulations effective June 1, the webinar is designed to help hospital leaders prepare for changes ahead. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions of IDPH staff during the program, which is jointly offered by IHA and the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN).
Topics covered will include:
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The rationale behind the new pediatric bed rules;
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Requirements of hospitals that do not have licensed pediatric beds;
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Hospital responsibilities and requirements under the new regulations; and
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How IDPH plans to enforce the new rules.
The webinar will benefit chief operating officers, chief medical officers, chief nursing officers, surgery directors, emergency department directors, general counsels and compliance officers. There is no fee to attend. Registrants will receive the webinar recording following the program. Register today.
Contact us with questions.
New HIPAA Privacy Rule Prohibits Reproductive Healthcare Disclosures
Entities regulated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPAA) Privacy Rule are prohibited from using or disclosing protected health information (PHI) to investigate or prosecute providers or others involved in providing legal reproductive health services, according to a final rule issued yesterday by the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Under the rule, covered entities must obtain a signed attestation that certain requests for PHI that may be related to reproductive healthcare are not for these prohibited purposes. Hospitals can rely on the attestation and are not required to investigate the validity of an attestation that is provided by someone requesting a use or disclosure of PHI. The rule takes effect 60 days after being published in the Federal Register; covered entities are required to comply within 240 days. The OCR intends to issue a model attestation form before the compliance date.
ISMP Adds to List of Error-Prone Medical Abbreviations
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) recently updated its list of medical abbreviations that should never be used when communicating medical information verbally, electronically and/or in handwritten applications. The ISMP “List of Error-Prone Abbreviations, Symbols, and Dose Designations” contains abbreviations, symbols and dose designations that have been reported through the ISMP National Medication Errors Reporting Program and have been misinterpreted and involved in harmful or potentially harmful medication errors.
The update includes these five additions:
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Do not use “nanog” as an abbreviation when measuring a dose in nanograms.
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Do not use “NAS” as an abbreviation for intranasal medications.
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Do not use “nightly” or “HS” to mean at bedtime for a medication intended to be used nightly at bedtime. Instead use “QHS” or “qhs.”
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Do not use reduced font-size fractions to indicate a half tablet. Instead use text and avoid using fractions or decimals.
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Do not use “per” if a slash mark is needed to separate doses. Use “and” instead.
IHA’s Midwest Alliance for Patient Safety (MAPS) is leading efforts to prevent medical error through resource sharing, education and data collection/analysis. As a certified Patient Safety Organization (PSO) since 2010, MAPS provides disclosure privileges, confidentiality and protections for reported patient events. Click here to learn more about MAPS benefits.
HHS Answers HIPAA Questions Following Change Healthcare Cyberattack
The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has made available a webpage that provides Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-related FAQs related to the Change Healthcare cyberattack. The website provides information on the OCR investigation into Change Healthcare and UnitedHealth Group (UHG), including whether a breach of protected health information (PHI) occurred; resources to help entities protect records and patients from cyberattacks; information on breach notification obligations related to the attack, though the OCR said no breach has been announced at this time; and OCR ransomware guidance.
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
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a public health alert for ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. FSIS issued this public health alert to ensure that the public is aware that these products should not be consumed. The raw ground beef items were produced on March 28, 2024. The products have a “Use/Freeze by” date of April 22, 2024, and packaging date of “032824.” The list of products that are subject to the public health alert can be found here.
74 hospitals with 5+ Magnet designations
Becker’s Hospital Review reported (4/22) that, “About 1% of U.S. hospitals have five or more Magnet Designations, according to data from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The ANCC awards the designation to hospitals with high quality patient care and excellent nursing. Fifty-five hospitals have five, and 19 — or 0.31% — have at least six Magnet designations.”
After 26,000 public comments, FTC to vote on rule banning noncompete agreements
WSIU reported (4/23) that, “After receiving more than 26,000 public comments, the five members of the Federal Trade Commission are set to vote Tuesday on whether to issue a final rule banning noncompetes, declaring them an unfair method of competition.”
Pritzker touts health insurance reform bill in Belleville
Spectrum News reported (4/22) that, “Gov. J.B. Pritzker was in the Metro East Monday trying to grease the skids for Senate passage of a measure that would make Illinois the first state in the country to ban the practice of needed prior authorization for in-patient mental health admissions for the first 72 hours. ‘Practices that allow an insurance company to override a physician’s judgement … These are cost-control strategies that benefit the insurance companies’ bottom line at the expense of the patient,’ said A.J. Wilhelmi, president and CEO of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association.”