IHA Daily Briefing: December 12

The classes will be held in various cities across Illinois to ensure long-term care infection preventionists in all regions can participate. Click here to access additional information, including class objectives and registration links for available dates and locations.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled the " Make America Healthy Again: Enhancing Lifestyle and Evaluating Value-based Approaches Through Evidence ," or Elevate, model. The initiative will fund up to 30 proposals promoting health and prevention for original Medicare beneficiaries. The proposals will utilize evidence-based, whole-person care approaches currently not covered by original Medicare, such as nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress management, harmful substance avoidance and social connections. Awardees will be required to collect quality and cost data. CMS said the "approaches are intended to support, not replace, the medical care received by people with Medicare." CMS will release a Notice of Funding Opportunity in early 2026 for the first cohort, and the voluntary model will launch on Sept. 1, 2026.

This week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded an outbreak of infant botulism caused by recalled ByHeart baby formula. The update said the "FDA cannot rule out the possibility that contamination might have affected all ByHeart formula products." In response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has broadened the case definition to include any infant with botulism who was exposed to ByHeart formula at any time since the product's release in March 2022. As of Dec. 10, a total of 51 infants with suspected or confirmed infant botulism and confirmed exposure to ByHeart Whole Nutrition infant formula have been reported from 19 states, including Illinois. A Dec. 10 CDC update offers clinician guidance.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an Early Alert notice to alert the public that GE HealthCare has issued updated use instructions for certain Carestation 600 and 700 series Anesthesia Systems due to the potential for an unexpected shutdown if the AC mains power is unplugged or experiences a loss of power. GE HealthCare said that when using affected devices, it critical to ensure the device has a secure connection to an AC mains power source, noting that in certain circumstances a power failure may lead to a life-threating loss of ventilation. As of Nov. 26, GE HealthCare has not reported any serious injuries or deaths associated with this issue.