IHA Daily Briefing: October 1

Your Advocacy is Critical! Urge Action on 340B Legislation

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has upheld a Mississippi court's refusal to grant AbbVie a preliminary injunction against enforcement of state law protecting 340B pricing for contract pharmacy arrangements. This marks the second appellate court to have upheld a state law protecting access to 340B discounts in contract pharmacy arrangements.

In response to drug companies' efforts to restrict hospitals' access to the 340B program, nearly 20 states have passed legislation to preserve the 340B program. IHA continues to advocate for passage of similar legislation in Illinois, which is poised to advance during the fall Veto Session. However, Big Pharma is spending millions of dollars to kill this legislation.

Your engagement and advocacy will be critical to advance this legislation during the fall Veto Session on Oct. 14-16 and 28-30. During this critical time, House Representatives will have the opportunity to act on IHA's Patient Access to Pharmacy Protection Act (HB 2371 SA 2)-essential legislation to safeguard the 340B drug discount program.

Please contact your House Representative to request a meeting before the Veto Session begins. Use this opportunity to underscore the vital importance of HB 2371 SA 2, highlighting the critical role the 340B program plays in expanding access to essential healthcare services and lifesaving medications at no cost to the state.

ACTION REQUESTED: Contact your House Representative and schedule a meeting before the October Veto Session to advocate for a House vote on HB 2371 SA 2. Click here to access IHA's digital messaging platform to send a pre-populated message directly to your House legislator requesting a meeting.

Make clear the urgency of passing HB 2371 SA 2 in light of looming federal Medicaid cuts facing Illinois hospitals and ask your Representative to share their support directly with House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch and urge him to call the bill for a vote during the Veto Session.

Big Pharma has invested millions to defeat this legislation. Only your direct outreach can ensure lawmakers hear the hospital community's voice above theirs.

Click here to access an IHA fact sheet with accurate information about the 340B program and the proposed legislation-designed to counter misleading claims from the pharmaceutical industry.

REGISTER: IHA Webinar on Life Safety, Physical Environment Compliance

Survey citations in the hospital physical environment have increased in recent years, with certain life safety code and physical environment issues most problematic. An IHA webinar on Oct. 24 will dive into the most common deficiencies cited in those areas.

The webinar, "Life Safety and Physical Environment: Survey Issues," will identify practical strategies to prevent citations and strengthen compliance. You'll also hear recent updates on critical topics from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, including:

Compliance expert Nancy Ruzicka will lead the 9-10:30 a.m. CT session designed for facilities teams, compliance and regulatory professionals, risk managers, quality improvement leaders, legal counsel, and other staff involved in compliance and survey preparation.

Nurse continuing education credit is available. The webinar recording will be available to registrants for 30 days after the session. Registration fees are $195 for hospitals and $395 for health systems. Please note IHA's new "Health System" registration option to accommodate systems enrolling multiple hospitals and offsite offices. Register today.

Staff contact: Bridget McCarte

Healing Communities: Endeavor Health Is Training Future Caregivers

Endeavor Health's Community Investment Fund (CIF) is propelling efforts to enhance community health and well-being through partnerships and to support local economic growth, which includes a concerted effort to train future clinicians.

In summer 2024, the health system's CIF partnership with ASPIRE Lake County funded healthcare internships for high school students and community members. Twenty-one paid interns were placed in clinical and non-clinical areas at Endeavor Health Highland Park Hospital to learn firsthand how to coordinate and prioritize care.

"I really think of it as growing the next generation of healthcare workers," said Magdelena Dudek, clinical nurse manager in the operating room at Endeavor Health Highland Park Hospital.

The program gives interns exposure to healthcare roles, builds job skills and supports residents in securing a job in healthcare. ASPIRE Lake County is a collaboration of community partners, including Endeavor Health, three school districts, three local colleges, Lake County Workforce Development and YouthBuild Lake County.

With clinician shortages among nurses and physician specialties, building up the local healthcare workforce is an important issue to solve. The health system aims to inspire and encourage future clinicians, serving as a spark that motivates a career of caregiving in Illinois.

"When you have that light bulb moment, when someone's excited and engaged, we know that has an impact academically as well as also personally, socially," said Jacob Schulz, Endeavor Health workforce development program manager. "We're seeing that this impact can really have an impact throughout our community."

IHA's Healing Communities: Hospital Stories webpage features the good work of hospitals across Illinois. Submit your hospital's or health system's story to Valerie Culver, Assistant Vice Presidents, Corporate Communications and Marketing, at [email protected].

IHA's Healing Communities campaign focuses on four pillars representing the positive impact of hospitals and health systems beyond care provided in the hospital setting. The pillars are: driving local economies, addressing community needs, providing accessible care and training future clinicians.

CDC Report Finds Sharp Rise in Dangerous Drug-Resistant Bacteria

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), published in Annals of Internal Medicine, highlights a dramatic increase in a dangerous type of drug-resistant bacteria called NDM-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (NDM-CRE). In a 2022 special report, COVID-19: U.S. Impact on Antimicrobial Resistance, CDC noted that in 2020 there were approximately 12,700 infections and 1,100 deaths in the United States due to CRE. The rise in NDM-CRE, documented in the new study, threatens to increase CRE infections and deaths.

Between 2019 and 2023, NDM-CRE infections surged by more than 460% in the U.S. These infections-including pneumonia, bloodstream infections, urinary tract infections, and wound infections-are extremely hard to treat and can be deadly. Detection is also challenging, as many clinical laboratories lack the necessary testing capacity.

FDA Expands Early Alerts to All Medical Devices

This week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it will now issue Early Alert Communications for all medical devices. This new approach is intended to minimize the time between FDA's initial awareness of and public communication of potentially high-risk medical device removals or corrections, and the agency's public communication of what was potentially a high risk-recall, the most serious kind of recall. The FDA said providing more timely notice of potential high-risk recalls will help healthcare facilities, distributors and other stakeholders take prompt action to address serious medical device safety issues.