IHA Daily Briefing: November 13

Hospital Boarding News & Resources
Patients increasingly face access barriers in emergency departments and inpatient hospital units when seeking transfer or discharge to different levels of care, especially for behavioral healthcare needs or patients experiencing homelessness.

A new IHA memo includes updates and new resources to aid hospitals in discharge planning, placement, and community treatment needs, targeting behavioral health needs and patients experiencing homelessness, including:

• Resource from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Illinois on hospital behavioral health treatment for families;
• Program from the Illinois Dept. of Human Services that provides free support for youth with autism spectrum disorder;
• New state grant funding for behavioral health, recovery housing, and unfunded patients;
• Supported and negotiated by IHA, a law (P.A. 104-0332) that will make homelessness resources more accessible for healthcare workers by creating a state webpage that provides local, accurate and up-to-date shelter and support resources;
• Network guide for hospitals and health centers referring patients experiencing homelessness to medical respite programs in Cook County; and
• Guidance on safely discharging patients experiencing homelessness to Chicago shelters.

IHA has also successfully advocated for coverage of beyond medical necessity hospital stays for vulnerable Medicaid and youth patient populations; Medicaid rate increases; prior authorization reforms; and transport diversion to community-based settings for non-emergencies. Also, IHA has previously provided members with several memos that include discharge planning resources. An IHA survey on boarding will also be distributed in the coming days, which we strongly encourage members to complete. Your input on patient access barriers will be valuable in shaping IHA's ongoing efforts to support hospitals and patients.

Staff contact: Lia Daniels

IDPH to Host Foodborne-Related Illness Webinar on Nov. 20
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) will host an "IDPH FAST PHACT" foodborne-related illness webinar on Nov. 20 from noon-1 p.m. CT. The virtual event is part of a series of clinician-directed interactive informational sessions, hosted by IDPH, to raise timely awareness of emerging and high-impact public health issues that directly involve clinical care or health system considerations.

The webinar will cover:

• Federal, state and local levels of food safety infrastructure for prevention of foodborne illness;
• The role of clinicians in foodborne surveillance and outbreak mitigation through illness identification and required reporting;
• The significance of diagnostic testing in confirming enteric disease cases and supporting surveillance efforts; and
• Case restriction requirements.

Participants can earn up to one credit hour of Continuing Medical Education credit. To register, click here.

Burnout, Telemental Health Webinar on Nov. 20
The Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center (NRTRC) will host "Burnout & Telemental Health: Re-Connecting to Ourselves While Connecting to Others," a Nov. 20 webinar from 1-2 p.m. CT.

NRTRC explains that burnout is ubiquitous in all aspects of health care, but telemental health has its own unique challenges. Technology allows us to rapidly connect with patients anywhere in the country, and yet technology also can, paradoxically, isolate us (working from home, without colleagues), emotionally distance us from others (limiting emotional and non-verbal communication), and make us more sedentary and disconnected from our bodies.

The virtual event will be presented by David R. Kopacz, MD, a tele-psychiatrist with Talkiatry. He'll explore ways to mitigate telemental health burnout through enhancing human connection with ourselves and with patients.

To register, click here. For more information, click here.

The Infectious Respiratory Disease Surveillance Dashboard from the Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) provides the latest data on hospital visits, seasonal trends, lab test positivity and demographic data. IDPH also tracks COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus information through the Illinois Wastewater Surveillance System dashboard.

Briefly Noted

Eating more ultra-processed foods is tied to an increased risk of precancerous colorectal growths in women under 50, according to a study published Thursday in JAMA Oncology. According to an NBC News report, these growths, called adenomas or polyps, can later turn into cancer and are a good indicator of a person's cancer risk, experts say. Rates of colorectal cancer in people under 50 have risen sharply in recent decades. The findings could offer new insights into what's driving this increase, NBC reported.

UPI reports vitamin D might help people with heart disease avoid a heart attack, if they're taking custom doses established by a doctor to optimize vitamin D levels in their blood, a new study says. Individuals provided with vitamin D reduced their risk by more than half. For the study, researchers recruited 630 adults with heart disease who were treated between April 2017 and May 2023.

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