IHA Daily Briefing: March 23

REGISTER: IHA Small and Rural Webinars on AI - Session 1 Is April 10

IHA's webinar series "From Exploration to Execution: AI Implementation Strategies" will address specific challenges facing small and rural hospital leaders when it comes to adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The training will occur over three sessions, starting April 10.

DePaul University's William "Marty" Martin will lead the series. Martin was a highly rated presenter at the 2024 IHA Leadership Summit, with his AI session generating interest from small and rural hospital leaders for additional AI training with him.

Webinar topics and dates are:

• "Foundations of AI in Rural Healthcare " on April 10-You'll hear how AI is currently applied in small and rural hospitals, common challenges in resource-constrained environments, and baseline policies, consent considerations, and governance structures.
• "Strategy, Governance and Vendors" on May 8-This session will explore governance models appropriate to organizational size and complexity, an evaluation framework to assess vendors, decision authority for AI investments, and communication strategies to build AI literacy and workforce confidence.
• "Implementation, Metrics and Sustainability" on June 5-You'll hear about operationalizing AI strategies developed in earlier sessions, including aligning metrics with organizational goals and phasing implementation pilots.

White House Releases National Policy Framework for AI

The framework also addresses workforce considerations, recommending that Congress strengthen federal efforts to analyze how AI is reshaping job responsibilities and skills needs, with the goal of informing future workforce policies. In addition, it calls on Congress to enact federal standards that would override state laws deemed overly restrictive, while preserving state authority in areas such as child safety, data center zoning, and state-level procurement of AI technologies. It also says that states should not be permitted to penalize AI developers for a third party's unlawful conduct involving their models.

CMS Final Rule Phases Out Fax Machines, Snail Mail

FTC to Form Healthcare Task Force

In coordination with other agencies and law enforcement partners, the Healthcare Task Force will:

• Lead targeted enforcement and advocacy initiatives focused on key priorities;
• Devise coordinated agencywide strategies on investigations;
• Take a proactive and strategic approach to identifying amicus and statement of interest opportunities; and
• Identify emerging issues and new priority areas for enforcement and advocacy.

2026 State Legislative Update

The House of Representatives and the Senate will reconvene tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24. The Senate will be in session Tuesday through Thursday, while the House will remain in session through Friday. This is the first time in March that the Senate and House will convene in Springfield at the same time. Next Friday, March 27, is the deadline to pass House bills out of House committees. Notably, though the Senate deadline to pass Senate bills out of Senate committees was March 13, the Illinois Senate extended the committee deadline for 700 Senate bills.

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

A KFF survey of Health Insurance Marketplace enrollees found that 80% of enrollees returning for 2026 say their plan premiums, deductibles, or coinsurance and co-pays are higher than last year, including 51% who say they are "a lot higher." A KFF news release said that 55% of those who re-enrolled in an Affordable Care Act Marketplace plan said that they have had to cut or plan to cut spending on food and other basic household expenses in order to afford healthcare costs.

Leading the News

OSF Healthcare taps SVP of strategic reimbursement and managed care

Becker's Hospital Review

Peoria, Ill.-based OSF HealthCare has promoted Matthew Hanley to senior vice president of strategic reimbursement and managed care, according to a post on his LinkedIn page.

UIC Rockford medical students matched with residency programs

WIFR
Families packed the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford's Partners' Pavilion Friday for the school's annual Match Day ceremony. Each March on Match Day, graduating medical students open letters, celebrating together as they learn where they'll spend the next three to seven years of their medical training in a residency program.

New website available for southern Illinois residents to find vital services

WSIU

Residents in the 19 southern counties of Illinois looking for vital services have a new resource they can turn to for help. At a recent press conference Southern Illinois Healthcare and other community partners announced the launch of FindHelp Southern Illinois. FindHelpSI is an online resource directory with resources from food assistance to housing, transportation, behavioral health support, to family services and more.

It's not just vaccines - parents are refusing other routine preventive care for newborns

Chicago Tribune

Doctors across the nation are alarmed that skepticism fueled by rising anti-science sentiment and medical mistrust is increasingly reaching beyond vaccines to other proven, routine, preventive care for babies.