IHA Daily Briefing: May 7
In Today’s Issue
Register: IHA Webinar Series Features Members’ Health Equity Initiatives
Cybersecurity Advisory: Weak DMARC Security Policies Exploited
Lessons in Framing Overdose Prevention in Rural Communities
Asian Longhorned Tick Confirmed in Illinois
COVID-19 Information
Briefly Noted
Leading the News
Register: IHA Webinar Series Features Members’ Health Equity Initiatives
The centerpiece of IHA’s 2024 health equity programming—a complimentary three-part webinar series—will feature hospital and health system leaders explaining how they developed and implemented successful health equity initiatives while managing challenges along the way.
The series, “Health Equity in Action: Practical Strategies & Shared Learnings,” will begin on May 20, followed by sessions on June 6 and June 24. Each webinar will be from noon-1 p.m. CT.
Hospital and health system initiatives will reflect the broad scope of health equity work in line with the four domains in the IHA Racial Equity in Healthcare Progress Report: Our People, Our Patients, Our Organization and Our Community.
May 20 presenters will be:
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Tierra Dixon-Sullivan, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coordinator at Riverside Healthcare, discussing implementation of an equitable policy review process as part of organizational health equity efforts; and
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Shannon Andrews, Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer at Cook County Health, addressing how to prioritize patient and community insights and keep key stakeholders informed of efforts to improve health equity.
June 6 presenters will be:
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James Williams, Jr., Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at UChicago Medicine, reviewing implementation of an organizational Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training program; and
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Amy Delaney, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Carle Health, highlighting efforts to eliminate racial bias in clinical decision support algorithms.
June 24 presenters will be:
- Cassie Pederson, Quality Patient Care Manager; Jessica Mossman, Manager of Women’s Health and Child Birth Center; and Meredith Parker; Manager of Care Coordination and Clinical Services, at Alton Memorial Hospital, discussing their social determinant of health screening program and process for connecting patients to services.
Also during the June 24 session, IHA quality improvement (QI) experts will present a QI framework so any hospital or health system, regardless of size or location, can adopt the initiatives presented.
There is no fee to join the webinars. After registering, you’ll receive login information for each webinar. IHA will provide follow-up materials after each session. Register today.
Contact HealthEquity@team-iha.org with questions.
Cybersecurity Advisory: Weak DMARC Security Policies Exploited
The FBI, U.S. Dept. of State, and National Security Agency issued a warning to alert organizations, including the healthcare sector, of attempts by North Korean cyberthreat actors to exploit improperly configured domain-based message authentication, reporting and conformance record (DMARC) policies to conceal social engineering attempts. The advisory explained that without properly configured DMARC policies, malicious cyber actors are able to send “spoofed” emails as if they came from a legitimate domain’s email exchange. The cyber actors have conducted spear phishing campaigns posing as journalists, academics or other experts in East Asian affairs with credible links to North Korean policy circles.
Other cyber actors have improperly configured domain-based message authentication to send hospitals and health systems spoofed phishing emails. The recent alert serves as a good reminder to ensure basic cybersecurity protocol is properly configured so that when cyberthreat actors send staff or contacts an email that appears to be from (someone known)@(your organization).org it will fail the validation test of DMARC and be flagged as suspicious. The warning also highlights examples of activities starting on page 4 of the publication that indicate or suggest behaviors of malicious North Korean cyber actors, which could be valuable for an organization's training and awareness initiatives.
Lessons in Framing Overdose Prevention in Rural Communities
Rural communities face unique challenges in communicating about overdose prevention. For example, it can be difficult to tailor messages to specific audiences when, in many rural communities, one person or group may play many roles. In addition, it can be difficult to identify and train trusted messengers who can provide a local perspective and be prepared to answer tough questions unique to rural communities.
To support rural stakeholders to communicate more effectively, Berkeley Media Studies Group will share messaging guidelines that draw on findings from a recent news analysis and learnings about framing overdose prevention in rural contexts nationwide. Click here to register for the webinar tomorrow, May 8, at 1:30 p.m. CT.
Asian Longhorned Tick Confirmed in Illinois
Illinois is the 20th state to discover the Asian longhorned tick, the Illinois Dept. of Public Health announced yesterday. The tick, considered an invasive species, was found on April 12 during routine active tick surveillance in Morgan County as part of an IDPH grant-funded active tick surveillance program. Additional surveillance in the area on April 24 discovered two additional Asian longhorned ticks. While the tick was first introduced to the U.S. in 2017, this is the first known collection of this tick species from anywhere in Illinois. The tick is capable of carrying tick-borne diseases that affect cattle, and according to the Department, in some cases of severe infestation livestock death has been reported.
“Although the role that this tick will play in the transmission of infections in humans is yet to be determined, IDPH working closing with the Department of Agriculture to monitor the presence of the tick and investigate the risk it carries to both humans and livestock,” IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a news release.
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 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Friday announced the opening of the comment period for the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, which will negotiate prices with drugmakers for certain high-cost, sole-source drugs and apply them beginning in 2026. Comments are due July 2.
America’s rural hospitals are on the financial knife edge
AXIOS reported (5/7) that, “Half of America’s rural hospitals are running in the financial red, per a recent report from health care consultancy Chartis.”
30 health systems with strong finances
Becker’s Hospital Review reported (5/6) that, “Here are 30 health systems with strong operational metrics and solid financial positions, according to reports from credit rating agencies Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service released in 2024.”
Stranded in the ER, seniors await hospital care and suffer avoidable harm
KFF Health News reported (5/6) that, “While boarding can happen to all ER patients, adults 65 and older, who account for nearly 20% of ER visits, are especially vulnerable during long waits for care. Also, seniors may encounter boarding more often than other patients. The best estimates I could find, published in 2019, before the covid-19 pandemic, suggest that 10% of patients were boarded in ERs before receiving hospital care. About 30% to 50% of these patients were older adults.”