IHA Daily Briefing: April 14

Call for Member Presentations: Highlight Your Innovations at IHA's 2026 Leadership Summit
During this era of transformational innovation in healthcare, leadership is being redefined in real time. Across Illinois, you and your fellow hospital and health system leaders are making tough decisions, reworking how your organizations deliver care, support your workforce, improve operations, and plan for long-term success. At the 2026 IHA Leadership Summit on Oct. 1-2 in Oak Brook, we invite you to share what leadership looks like in your organization. On Oct. 1, a limited number of member-led breakout sessions will highlight practical strategies, real-world experiences, and lessons learned from Illinois hospitals and health systems.

If your organization has developed an approach that is producing results, generating valuable lessons or creating new possibilities, we encourage you to submit a proposal by May 29. You can submit your proposal here. Selected applicants will receive notification of acceptance on July 1.

We are seeking presentations focused on priority areas including financial sustainability; workforce strategy; artificial intelligence and digital transformation; care delivery transformation; operational excellence; and partnerships and community health. Strong proposals will feature real-world implementation examples from your hospital or health system, practical insights that peers can apply, and candid lessons learned from addressing major challenges or leading change efforts.

Please mark your calendar for IHA's Leadership Summit Oct. 1-2 in Oak Brook, where hospital and health system executives from across the state will gather to gain new innovations, new strategies and new connections. Registration will begin in June.

Staff contact: Bridget McCarte

REMINDER: Applications Due April 23 for Upcoming P/A SANE Didactic Training
The Office of the Illinois Attorney General announced a pediatric/adolescent (P/A) sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) didactic training opportunity May 12-15, from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. CT. The training will take place at the Jesse White State of Illinois Building in Chicago.

This training is for registered nurses, advanced practice providers and physicians who will be providing medical forensic services to sexual assault survivors under the age of 18. Applicants must complete the application and return it along with a recent resume. All participants are required to have an established mentor who has received specialized training in the care of both acute and non-acute sexual assault survivors. Applications are due April 23, and more information can be found in this training invitation.

Staff contact: Cassie Yarbrough

REGISTER: Strategies to Support Healthcare Teams - Webinar April 22
Clinicians, staff, and leaders in healthcare face daily pressures-rapid decision making, intense emotional demands, and high stakes environments. These realities place considerable strain on individuals and teams.

A complimentary IHA webinar, "How We Support Each Other: Strategies for Healthcare Leaders and Teams," on April 22 will help healthcare organizations cultivate stronger communication, resilience and psychological safety. Saloumeh DeGood, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Evolve Wellness, will lead the 11 a.m.-noon CT session, highlighting:

• Proven strategies leaders can use to reduce stress and reinforce psychological safety in clinical settings.

• Practical techniques for supporting colleagues in ways that strengthen teamwork, morale, and overall performance.

• How compassionate leadership, psychological safety, and peer support form the foundation of effective team collaboration.

All healthcare providers and wellness leaders are encouraged to attend. Please share the registration information with others across your organization. Nurse continuing education credit is available for this program.

For additional information, please contact [email protected].

IDPH Issues Guidance on Newborn Screening Sample Submissions
The Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) has issued a reminder that as of February 2023 FedEx is the Department's exclusive courier service. This applies to small packages, environmental, clinical and newborn screening samples delivered to State Public Health Laboratories.

If your facility still has any UPS labels with any State Laboratory indicated in the "Ship-To" address, IDPH is instructing you to immediately discard these labels; click here to view an example. Samples submitted using these UPS labels will not arrive at the IDPH Newborn Screening Laboratory. Please use only the approved State FedEx account to ship newborn screening samples by commercial transport.

If you or your facility does not currently have access to the FedEx account, please email [email protected] to receive instructions and login information.

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

Mass General Brigham research shows that publicly available AI chatbots' diagnostic accuracy improves significant when given comprehensive clinical information, but the chatbots still underperform on generating possible diagnoses when information is lacking. The study found that when large language models were asked to play doctor in a series of clinical scenarios they arrived at a correct final diagnosis more than 90% of the time when provided with all pertinent information in a patient case; however, they consistently performed poorly at the earlier, reasoning-driven steps of the diagnostic process.

Leading the News

House Speaker backs millionaires tax, but Democrats split over how much to devote to property tax relief

Chicago Sun-Times

Illinois House Speaker "Chris" Welch is endorsing a proposed 3% tax on those making more than $1 million annually, but there is a split among House Democrats on how much of the potential $4.5 billion yearly windfall should fund property tax relief. On the table are two competing measures that would put the question of a so-called millionaires tax on the November ballot as an amendment to the Illinois constitution. One of the proposed amendments offered by state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, would allocate all of the funds toward property tax relief in the form of $1,500 rebates per property owner.

Illinois House approves ban on junk fees, Pritzker's abortion fund proposal

WGLT

For the second time in three years, the Illinois House voted to ban hidden "junk fees" that are often added to the total cost of ticketed events, hotel rooms and other goods and services.

6 new drugs in shortage

Becker's Hospital Review

The number of active drug shortages has declined sharply since June, according to the FDA's database.

4 medical device recalls

Becker's Hospital Review

The FDA has flagged four medical device recalls and alerts tied to risks that include device failure, oxygen complications and potential patient injury.