Register: Free Webinar on New Joint Commission Performance Goal Jan. 29
Hospital staffing impacts care delivery, patient safety and provider well-being. With health professional resource management now a Joint Commission National Performance Goal (NPG #12), a Medical Solutions webinar on Jan. 29 will guide hospitals and health systems in planning for compliance.

The 1-1:30 p.m. session, “Inside Joint Commission Staffing Compliance: How Organizations Are Preparing,” will feature a panel of experts on how they’re interpreting the goal, building and documenting staffing plans, and preparing teams for future surveys. Panelists will be:

• Patti Artley, Medical Solutions Chief Clinical Officer and Chief Nursing Officer (CNO);

• Hussein Tahan, System Vice President and CNO-Professional Development, Workforce Management and Academic Affairs of MedStar Health in Maryland;

• Brienne Sandow, Chief Operating Officer/CNO and Assistant Vice President, Operations of St. Luke’s Health System in Missouri; and

• Jill White, CNO of Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System in Kansas. 

Joint Commission in July 2025 elevated its “planning for provision of care” standards to NPG #12, which supplements Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Conditions of Participation for staffing and includes additional expectations for verification, training, education, and ongoing performance improvement monitoring.

There is no cost to attend the webinar. Click here to register.

Medical Solutions is a leading healthcare talent ecosystem provider and an IHA Strategic Partner since 2018. See IHA’s Medical Solutions flyer.

House Committee Releases FY 2026 Minibus, Includes Healthcare Spending
Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee released a four-bill minibus for fiscal year (FY) 2026. The bill includes proposed healthcare provisions and extensions, providing a discretionary total of $116.6 billion to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), a significant increase over President Donald Trump’s HHS budget request of $83.3 billion. The bill would also prevent the HHS Secretary from unilaterally cutting, defunding  or altering major HHS programs. 

If passed, the bill would delay Medicaid Disproportionate Share (DSH) cuts until FY 2028; renew expanded Medicare telehealth coverage through Dec. 31, 2027; renew hospital-at-home coverage through Sept. 30, 2030; extend Low Volume Hospital and Medicare Dependent Hospital payments through FY 2026; reinstate Medicare Physician Fee Service 3.1% bonuses for practitioners in advanced alternative payment models through 2028; and impose new restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers, among other provisions.

The bill does not address Affordable Care Act subsidies. It does propose requiring hospitals to secure separate provider numbers for off-campus outpatient departments, signaling interest in further legislative and regulatory movement on site-neutral payments. Securing separate provider numbers would also impose unnecessary costs and administrative burden on hospitals, requiring adherence to a to-be-determined provider enrollment process and modifications to internal billing systems.

The House is expected to vote on the bill this week, with the Senate expected to follow next week before the Jan. 30 funding deadline.

Save the Date: IHA Small & Rural Hospitals Annual Meeting June 18
Designed for and by small and rural hospital and health system leaders, the 2026 IHA Small & Rural Hospitals Annual Meeting on June 18 will address pressing issues of financial stability, new revenue opportunities and rethinking traditional rural healthcare models for the future.

IHA encourages all small and rural hospitals to attend the Annual Meeting, an IHA signature event, on June 18 at the Crowne Plaza Springfield. New this year by member request, a pre-conference workshop and welcome networking reception will take place a day before the meeting.

The June 17 in-person workshop will be held in collaboration with the Mid-America Healthcare Executives Forum, an independent chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). It will offer AHCE In-Person Education credit, providing added value for senior leaders pursuing or maintaining FACHE credentials. IHA Business Resources will sponsor the networking reception.

Annual Meeting registration fees will remain low and IHA will offer steeper discounts for each additional registrant from the same hospital. Attending as a team will help spread new strategies and approaches to the significant financial and operational headwinds on the horizon. More information on the June 17-18 events is forthcoming.

Staff contact: Bridget McCarte

Red Cross Declares Severe Blood Shortage, Supply Fell 35% in Past Month
The American Red Cross declared a severe blood shortage after the national blood supply fell approximately 35% over the past month. The Red Cross said this comes as flu activity is exploding across the country, forcing overburdened hospitals to triage critical blood products. A Red Cross statement said the shortage is especially serious for types O, A negative and B negative. The organization emphasized that without immediate action, patients who rely on transfusions—including trauma victims, mothers in childbirth, and people with sickle cell disease or cancer—face serious risk.

Tuna Recall Extends to Illinois
El Segundo, California-based Tri-Union Seafoods announced in a Jan. 19 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recall alert that a third-party distributor had “inadvertently released quarantined product that was associated to a February 2025 recall” to grocery store locations in nine states, including Illinois Meijer stores. The initial recall was conducted after it was determined the “easy open” pull tab can lid on some of the products had a manufacturing defect that could compromise the integrity of the product seal, causing it to leak, or worse, be contaminated with clostridium botulinum, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning.