Tuesday, May 16, 2023
ADVOCACY ALERT: Support Higher Hospital Medicaid Rate
CDC: Potential Risk for New Mpox Cases
TJC Resources for Health Care Equity Certification
Illinois State Cancer Registry Updated Data, Reports
Illinois COVID-19 Data
Briefly Noted
ADVOCACY ALERT: Support Higher Hospital Medicaid Rate
The Illinois General Assembly’s May 19 adjournment deadline is quickly approaching and state lawmakers and legislative leaders are finalizing important policy and budget decisions that impact Illinois hospitals and the communities you serve.
IHA has been strongly advocating in the Statehouse and directly to legislators for passage of a Medicaid base rate increase through a multi-pronged digital and earned media campaign. Our messaging and outreach efforts have been highly successful, as demonstrated by Saturday’s Daily Herald editorial, “Hospitals make a valid case for first Medicaid rate increase in 28 years.” The editorial detailed many of the points raised by IHA members and staff during a recent editorial board meeting.
However, strong engagement and action from the hospital community during the final days of the scheduled session in support of the hospital community’s top priority—increased state investment in the hospital Medicaid base reimbursement rate—will be critical to the bill’s passage.
Given the stakes, and the significant financial strain that Illinois hospitals are experiencing, hospital leaders are encouraged to engage their colleagues and ask them to send a message to their state legislators asking for increased state Medicaid funding for hospitals to protect access to quality, equitable healthcare in Illinois.
Click here to access a digital messaging platform with a pre-populated message that allows a direct message to be sent to your state legislators in support of this legislation.
CDC: Potential Risk for New Mpox Cases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Update confirming the CDC and local partners are investigating a cluster of mpox cases in the Chicago area. The purpose of the notification is to inform clinicians and public health entities about the potential for new clusters or outbreaks of mpox cases, and to provide clinical guidance on the evaluation and treatment of patients, vaccination recommendations, and testing.
The CDC said that between April 17 and May 5, there have been a total of 12 confirmed and one probable case of mpox reported to the Chicago Dept. of Public Health. Of those cases, all were among symptomatic men and none of the patients has been hospitalized.
The CDC cautioned that spring and summer season could lead to a resurgence of mpox as people attend festivals and other events.
TJC Resources for Health Care Equity Certification
The Joint Commission (TJC) has rolled out an online resource center to assist healthcare systems in earning its Health Care Equity Certification, which launches July 1. The resource center provides toolkits, hospital case studies and evidence-based interventions, intended to help hospitals standardize process to identify and address healthcare disparities. TJC said additional resources are forthcoming. Those interested in receiving an update as new resources are added can click here to sign up for e-alerts.
IHA plans to host a July 20 joint webinar with TJC, which will highlight the Health Care Equity Certification program. Save the date to learn more about the program, as well as additional other health equity resources and programming. IHA will provide additional registration information as it becomes available.
Currently, IHA is hosting a complimentary, two-part webinar series to explore effective tools and processes to screen patients for social determinants of health (SDoH)—a key part of hospitals’ health equity efforts. “Practical Strategies to Address Social Risk Factors” will be from 1-2 p.m. on June 21 and July 12. It will also cover new screening requirements from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and showcase successful screening programs at hospitals nationwide. Contact HealthEquity@team-iha.org with questions. Register today.
Illinois State Cancer Registry Updated Data, Reports
The Illinois State Cancer Registry (ISCR) recently announced the availability of new cancer data and epidemiologic reports for the 2020 diagnosis year. ISCR is the only population-based source for cancer incidence information in Illinois. ISCR collects information on cancer cases through mandated reporting by hospitals and other cancer treatment centers and labs.
Updated publications include:
ISCR also presents data in an easy-to-use cancer query system that contains incidence data at the state, county and ZIP code level and mortality data at the state level.
Illinois COVID-19 Data
With the state of Illinois and the nation ending the Public Health Emergency (PHE) last week, the Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) announced it is shifting to a new cadence for data reporting and will release updates every other week. The next update will be May 26. IDPH will continue to report COVID-19 data on the weekly number of people admitted to hospitals from emergency departments, deaths and vaccinations, as well through the dashboard of the Illinois Wastewater Surveillance System.
Briefly Noted
Healthcare cyberattacks, such as ransomware, are associated with significant disruptions to regional hospitals, according to a recent study published in JAMA Network. A review of the impact of an extended ransomware attack on a healthcare delivery organization revealed “significant increases in patient census, ambulance arrivals, waiting room times, patients left without being seen, total patient length of stay, county-wide emergency medical services diversion, and acute stroke care metrics” in two adjacent academic, urban emergency departments. Study authors said healthcare cyberattacks “should be treated as disasters, necessitating coordinated planning and response efforts.”
Yesterday, President Biden nominated Dr. Monica Bertagnolli to be the next director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH has not had a leader since the previous director stepped down in 2021. A former National Cancer Institute director, Dr. Bertagnolli is a world-renowned surgical oncologist, cancer researcher, educator and physician-leader.