Illinois Health and Hospital Association
03/09/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/09/2026 16:21
IHA Daily Briefing: March 9
REGISTER: MAPS/IHA Workshop on Key Patient Safety Issues This Week
A human factors approach to root cause analysis and hospital compliance with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' new Patient Safety Structural Measure (PSSM) are two key issues this Wednesday's MAPS/IHA workshop will address. Open to all IHA members, the March 11 virtual workshop from IHA's Midwest Alliance for Patient Safety (MAPS) Patient Safety Organization will benefit:
- Patient safety professionals;
- Risk management staff;
- Clinical leaders and staff;
- Quality improvement specialists;
- Staff responsible for PSSM; and
- Hospital leaders.
Expert presenters Lee Erickson, MD, and Sharon Hickman, MBA, of the consultancy Adaptient, will discuss RCA through human factors analysis and systems design thinking. Their session, "Closing the RCA Implementation Gap: Using Human Factors and Systems Design to Get to Zero Harm," will offer a scientific method-based approach to uncover and correct systemic issues that contribute to harm.
See our program webpage to learn more about the sessions, speakers and registration fees. The workshop will be recorded and shared with registrants following the program. Nurse continuing education credits and credit through the American College of Healthcare Executives are available for those attending the live workshop. Register today . Contact [email protected] with questions.
Tenet Secures Litigation Victory Against Leapfrog
On Friday, a federal judge in Florida issued an injunction against The Leapfrog Group under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (Act), which was sought by five Florida for-profit hospitals operated by Tenet Healthcare. These hospitals had declined to participate in The Leapfrog Group's annual health safety surveys. They later asserted in their complaint that once they stopped participating in Leapfrog's surveys they allegedly received worse grades afterward. The hospitals also alleged Leapfrog pressured facilities to participate in its survey out of fear non-participation would result in lower safety grades.
The judge found that Leapfrog's methodology for assigning scores to these non-participating hospitals is an unfair and deceptive business practice in violation of the Act. In response, the court issued an injunction barring Leapfrog from issuing safety grades to the five hospitals. The court's decision also required significant corrective measures, including removing the hospitals' fall 2024, spring 2025 and fall 2025 safety grades from public websites. Leapfrog has issued a statement saying it will appeal the decision immediately. Leapfrog also noted that while the spring 2026 update of the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade will continue as planned, there will be, "some modifications based on the injunction which will be shared in the coming days."
National Patient Safety Awareness Week March 9-15
National Patient Safety Awareness Week takes place from March 9-15, with a 2026 focus on team dynamics, according to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. The Midwest Alliance for Patient Safety (MAPS) believes this is the perfect time to engage clinical and non-clinical staff in providing solutions to patient safety challenges.
MAPS membership will be receiving daily emails March 9-12 that include best practices and resources on clinical topics, including safe patient handling, medication events, diagnostic errors, just culture and patient/family advisory councils. The MAPS team has also designed staff activities including patient case reviews and team discussion exercises. The goal is to provide inpatient and outpatient MAPS members with resources to pass along to staff for promoting patient safety goals. Feel free to reach out to [email protected] to learn more about the benefits of joining IHA's Patient Safety Organization.
CMS Toolkit on Behavioral Health Services for Children in Medicaid, CHIP
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have released a toolkit outlining strategies states can utilize to strengthen access to behavioral health services for children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. The guidance contains actionable strategies that emphasize early screening and intervention, care coordination, crisis services, telehealth and workforce capacity, as well as ensuring utilization management and reimbursement to support Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) requirements. In the guidance, CMS encouraged states to ensure Medicaid managed care plans' payment structures are sufficient to maintain network adequacy and timely access to EPSDT-required, medically necessary care.
New IDOT Dashboard Provides Info on Winter Road Conditions, Operations
A new online dashboard released last week by the Illinois Dept. of Transportation (IDOT) seeks to keep motorists up to date on winter weather and road conditions. The new dashboard page includes a tutorial on the popular winter road conditions map on the Getting Around Illinois webpage, which relays data to the public from plow drivers out in the field through a cloud-based system, providing a general overview of IDOT-maintained routes that are clear or covered with snow and ice. IDOT noted the page will be updated regularly with stats on salt, materials, and labor hours needed to keep the public safe and moving during snow-and-ice season.
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
Today, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued new draft guidance as part of its initiative to streamline the development of biosimilar medicines, which the FDA said, "are like 'generic' versions of biologic drugs." The FDA press release said that biologic medicines can be effective treatments for many diseases, including autoimmune diseases and cancer, but noted the medicines are often expensive.
Leading the News
Chicago Sun-Times
An Illinois task force of legislators, law enforcement and judiciary officials and mental health professionals is looking at Bridges of Colorado as a potential model for Illinois. Last month, the Illinois panel attended a briefing on how the Colorado program works.
Chicago Tribune
Many towns cannot afford the millions of dollars needed to upgrade their water systems. That means ratepayers could end up footing the bill. Twenty-one communities, covering 47 water systems, contain levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS that exceed state and federal standards, according to a statewide investigation by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
UW Health shares tips to replace ultra-processed foods in your pantry
WIFR
March is National Nutrition Month, a time to learn more about making informed food decisions and developing healthful eating. UW Health Kids pediatric dietitian, Shirley Poole says ultra-processed foods are industrially manufactured products made with ingredients not typically found in home kitchens.
Illinois Health and Hospital Association published this content on March 09, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on March 09, 2026 at 22:22 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]