IHA Daily Briefing: May 9
In Today’s Issue
Next Week: MAPS PSO Webinar on Top Patient Safety Issues
CDC: New COVID Variant Makes Up 25% of U.S. Cases
CMS Proposes Rule for Mandatory Organ Transplant Payment Model
Suicide Prevention: Evidence-Informed Interventions for Healthcare Workforce
COVID-19 Information
Briefly Noted
Leading the News
Next Week: MAPS PSO Webinar on Top Patient Safety Issues
There’s still time to register for a complimentary webinar on top patient safety issues this Monday, May 13. The Midwest Alliance for Patient Safety (MAPS) Patient Safety Organization (PSO) is offering the program, from 2-3:30 p.m. CT, to all IHA members.
National patient safety experts will offer insights and strategies on fall prevention, virtual nursing and artificial intelligence, specifically covering:
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How an individualized patient care plan can prevent falls;
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The impact of virtual nursing in multiple care settings; and
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How artificial intelligence is becoming a part of patient care.
The three issues come from MAPS’ annual white paper that outlines the year’s top 10 patient safety concerns and includes best practices and resources. See our summary flyer of the top 10 issues for 2024. MAPS is a federally certified PSO and non-profit subsidiary of IHA.
The program will benefit hospital and health system leaders and staff in clinical roles, quality and patient safety leaders, and risk managers. Continuing education credit is available for nurses and nurse leaders. Register today.
Contact us with questions.
CDC: New COVID Variant Makes Up 25% of U.S. Cases
New COVID-19 variant KP.2, nicknamed FLiRT, now makes up 25% of cases in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Wastewater surveillance confirmed that between April 14 and April 27 two FLiRT variants made up roughly 30% of cases. KP.1.1 constituted 7.5% of cases and KP.2 made up 25% of cases. The former dominant variant, JN.1, accounted for 22% of cases during the same period.
CMS Proposes Rule for Mandatory Organ Transplant Payment Model
Yesterday, the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced the Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model. The proposed model aims to increase access to kidney transplants for all people living with end-stage renal disease, improve the quality of care for people seeking kidney transplants, reduce disparities among individuals undergoing the process to receive a kidney transplant and increase the efficiency and capability of transplant hospitals selected to participate.
CMS said that in the proposed model, participating transplant hospitals would be measured by increases in the number of transplants, increased organ acceptance rates and post-transplant outcomes. Hospitals eligible to be selected for the proposed model are non-pediatric facilities that conduct a minimum of 11 transplants each during a three-year baseline period. CMS said that out of the 257 transplant hospitals in the country, an estimated 90 would be required to participate in the proposed six-year model beginning Jan. 1, 2025.
CMS will accept comments on the proposed rule through July 8. Click here to view the proposed rule. Click here to view a fact sheet on the model.
Suicide Prevention: Evidence-Informed Interventions for Healthcare Workforce
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, healthcare workers are at an increased risk for suicide for a variety of reasons, including difficult working conditions, long work hours, emotionally challenging situations, and routine exposure to human suffering and death. The American Hospital Association (AHA) has released a guide, Suicide Prevention: Evidence-informed Interventions for the Health Care Workforce, that identifies stigma, limited access to behavioral health resources and treatment, and job-related stress as three of the top drivers of suicide. In response, the guide provides a list of 12 evidence-informed suicide interventions for hospital and health systems to help reduce the risk of suicide among healthcare workers.
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
This week The Joint Commission (TJC) announced it has received deeming authority from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for its Rural Health Clinic Accreditation Program. The program provides a framework to help organizations in underserved, rural communities standardize how care is delivered and improve the safety and quality of primary care and personal health services. The program will be available in summer 2024.
Lawmakers, organizations express frustration over continued licensing delays in Illinois
State Journal-Register reported (5/9) that, “A state agency overseeing licensing for health care and occupational professionals is under scrutiny from lawmakers after missing a deadline in its quest to cutdown on delays and modernize services. Under legislation signed into by Gov. JB Pritzker in December, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation had 90 days, or until March 7 to enter into contract with a technology vendor to build a new computer software system. Now two months after the deadline, lawmakers pressed IDPFR officials during a subject matter hearing in Springfield on Wednesday.”
GLP-1s: 8 things hospital leaders should know
Becker’s Hospital Review reported (5/8) that, “A blockbuster drug class that includes Ozempic, Wegovy and Trulicity is pioneering avenues in the healthcare industry and redefining obesity care as the weight loss therapy market stretches toward $100 billion. Here are eight things health system and hospital leaders should know about these medications.”
RN pay for 16 specialties
Becker’s Hospital Review reported (5/8) that, “AMGA, a trade association representing multispecialty medical groups and integrated systems of care, released its Nursing Specialty Compensation and Pay Practices Survey May 8, highlighting how pay varies among registered nurses.”