IHA Daily Briefing: March 20

In Today’s Issue
TJC Health Care Equity Certification: IHA Webinar Is March 27
OCR Updates Its Website Tracking Tool Guidance
Resources, Webinar: Medicare Codes for Health-Related Social Needs
Sepsis Alliance Symposium: Maternal, Neonatal Patients
COVID-19 Information 
Briefly Noted
Leading the News


TJC Health Care Equity Certification: IHA Webinar Is March 27
The Joint Commission (TJC) has identified improving healthcare equity as a quality and safety priority, with its Health Care Equity (HCE) certification program a key way hospitals can showcase their efforts to advance equitable care. A complimentary IHA webinar next Wednesday, March 27, will outline the certification process and share lessons learned from the survey experiences of HCE-certified hospitals.

Led by TJC staff, the webinar will also feature representatives with Meridian Health Plan. In-network hospitals can receive financial support through 2025 for pursuing HCE certification, which TJC launched on July 1 on a voluntary basis. A news release today identified Meridian Health Plan of Illinois as the first Medicaid health plan to incentivize HCE certification among hospitals.

“The health plan’s support of the program aims to ensure in-network hospitals formalize structures, processes, and goals for identifying and addressing health care disparities in the communities they serve,” the news release said, noting the certification’s annual application fee will be reimbursed at 25% for Safety Net and Critical Access Hospitals. All other hospitals will receive 15% reimbursement.

With a focus on hospital structures and processes, the new certification aims to reduce healthcare disparities in patient populations; promote diversity, equity and inclusion among staff; and address five domains: leadership, collaboration, data collection, provision of care and performance improvement.

IHA’s webinar, from noon-1 p.m. CT, is designed for leaders and staff in: accreditation; administration; diversity, equity and inclusion, human resources, operations; public relations; quality improvement; risk management; and strategy and business development. 

There is no fee to attend the webinar. The webinar will be recorded and made available to all registrants following the program. Register today.

Contact Us with questions.


OCR Updates Its Website Tracking Tool Guidance
The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued updated guidance on Monday, regarding the use of online tracking technologies by entities and business associates covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). 

This move comes in response to litigation brought by the American Hospital Association (AHA) challenging its prior guidance issued on Dec. 1, 2022, which was supported by 17 state hospital associations, including IHA, and 30 hospital systems. 

The 2022 guidance made it clear that OCR considered the IP address or any “unique identifying code” and other information, to be protected health information (PHI). One of the criticisms of the 2022 guidance was OCR’s apparent assumption that anyone visiting a covered healthcare provider’s website was, is or will be a patient of the provider. At that time, OCR concluded that all individually identifiable health information “collected on a regulated entity’s website or mobile app generally is PHI, even if the individual does not have an existing relationship with the regulated entity…”  

OCR acknowledges in the revised guidance that “the mere fact that an online tracking technology connects the IP address of a user’s device (or other identifying information) with a visit to a website addressing specific health conditions or listing health care providers is not a sufficient combination of information to constitute [individually identifiable health information] if the visit to the webpage is not related to an individual’s past, present, or future health, health care, or payment for health care.” However, the new guidance is silent regarding how a regulated entity could determine the purpose of a person’s visit to a webpage. Even though it seems unlikely that a regulated entity would have a reliable way to assess the intent of each visitor to each webpage, the updated guidance states that, “OCR is prioritizing compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule in investigations into the use of online tracking technologies.”

Click here to read OCR’s updated guidance. Click here to read the amicus brief that IHA jointly submitted with 17 other hospital associations in support of AHA’s lawsuit challenging OCR’s prior guidance.  


Resources, Webinar: Medicare Codes for Health-Related Social Needs
As part of the 2024 Physician Fee Schedule final rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a Medicare Learning Network Booklet that outlines four services in the Physician Fee Schedule intended to address health equity priorities, including new service codes for administering social determinants of health (SDOH) risk assessments, community health integration (CHI) and principal illness navigation (PIN).

These new service codes provide a direct pathway for reimbursement for work performed by auxiliary personnel, including community health workers, to the Medicare provider. In addition, the Physician Fee Schedule allows providers to contract with community-based organizations, such as area agencies on aging and centers for independent living, to provide staffing to address identified health-related social needs.

To support community-based organizations and healthcare providers in the delivery of reimbursable CHI and PIN services, the Partnership to Align Social Care (Partnership) developed a resource document, “Understanding the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Billing Codes for Community Health Integration (CHI), Principal Illness Navigation (PIN), and Principal Illness Navigation – Peer Support (PIN-PS) Services.” This resource provides an overview of the core concepts required to implement CHI and PIN services.

The Partnership will host a webinar on April 3 at 11 a.m. CT to explain more about the codes and the resource document. Click here to register for the free webinar. Automated captioning will be available. 


Sepsis Alliance Symposium: Maternal, Neonatal Patients
Sepsis accounts for approximately 11% of all maternal deaths, and across the U.S., between 2017-2019, 14.3% of pregnancy-related deaths were due to infection or sepsis. Maternal sepsis ranks as the second leading cause of maternal fatalities, and globally sepsis is the number one cause of mortality in newborns and young infants.

It is imperative that healthcare professionals understand the unique risks that maternal and neonatal patients have regarding sepsis to efficiently and accurately assess and diagnose sepsis.

Click here to register for the free, virtual “Sepsis Alliance Symposium: Maternal and Neonatal Sepsis” on May 16, which will offer attendees the most up-to-date clinical knowledge and treatment recommendations for these populations. 

Covered topics will include:

  • Perinatal outcomes in patients with sepsis during pregnancy;

  • Improving maternal equity, health outcomes related to infections and sepsis, and antimicrobial stewardship through health policy;

  • Clinical diagnosis and management of neonatal sepsis; and

  • Discharge and transitions of care for birthing parents and newborns.

Continuing nursing education credits will be available.


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
Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) Director Dr. Sameer Vohra today signed a standing order allowing trained personnel in Illinois schools to use “undesignated” asthma inhalers on hand to treat students who develop respiratory distress. Undesignated medications are those that are not prescribed for a specific student but can be used in an emergency to address any student’s symptoms related to asthma or other respiratory issues. An IDPH media statement said this order provides the prescription necessary so that every school in the state can have and use this critical medication for asthma attacks at school. 


Leading the News

2024 election results: Voters decide in Illinois primary races
CBS 2 reported (3/20) that, “The 2024 primary elections are here for Illinois, with voters casting their ballots in primary races for President, U.S. House seats, Cook County State’s Attorney, Illinois General Assembly seats, and more on Tuesday.” 

Incumbents win big in Illinois primary with Chicago-area Democrats emerging from competitive races
WAND reported (3/20) that, “Incumbents in competitive U.S. House races around Chicago cruised to victory in Tuesday’s primary, while a downstate Republican challenger conceded in a race that focused on an endorsement from President Donald Trump.”

Healthcare CEO exits marked by fresh faces, empty tanks
Becker’s Hospital Review reported (3/19) that, “Last year, hospital CEO turnover hit a record high, placing additional strain on many health systems’ unstable foundations.”