Strengthen Trust, Wellness: Workforce Strategies at IHA Leadership Summit
The challenges facing hospitals are felt throughout the healthcare workforce. How to address issues of burnout and resilience in a supportive work environment will be the focus of two sessions at the 2025 IHA Leadership Summit, “Unity Amid Uncertainty,” held Sept. 25-26 in Oak Brook.

In an eye-opening session with Katherine Meese, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, you’ll hear about evidence-based strategies—from decades of research—to sustain the healthcare workforce you rely on to deliver high-quality, patient-centered care. Meese, an assistant professor of health services administration, is an award-winning scholar and author in organizational behavior, well-being, and leadership.

The session, “The Human Margin: Building Foundations of Trust” will dive into:

• The real drivers of turnover and retention;
• The connection between trust and retention;
• New rules of transparency and communication;
• How to counter boredom and burnout; and
• Why autonomy matters to clinical effectiveness and organizational resilience.

To strengthen resilience among healthcare teams, Patti Artley of IHA Strategic Partner Medical Solutions will highlight innovative strategies to promote well-being and reduce burnout across healthcare teams. Artley, chief nursing officer and chief clinical officer, will also show you how to prioritize mental wellness and empower healthcare professionals to thrive during her session, “Workforce Wellness: Effective Approaches to Foster Well-Being and Retention in Healthcare.”

Designed for leadership teams, the Summit will cover other key issues, including the effects of policy shifts, financial pressures, and emerging technologies on shaping healthcare delivery and organizational strategy, and opportunities to advance innovation, collaboration, and strategic decision-making. See our program webpage for the registration discounts, the complete agenda, speaker bios and more.

Register today.

Staff contact: David Strickland

IDFPR Launches 24 Additional License Types to New Licensing System
The Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) announced this week that 24 more professions are now available for licensure via the Department’s new online licensing system, CORE (Comprehensive Online Regulatory Environment). According to an IDFPR news release, this marks the completion of CORE’s Phase 2.3, with the final part of Phase 2 set for completion this summer.

The Department will announce when Phase 2 is completed, including which professions are added to CORE.

Phase 2 focuses on adding license types to CORE that are currently exclusively available as paper applications and not through IDFPR’s legacy online licensing system, which will eliminate the need for paper applications that require longer processing times to review all submitted materials. Individuals seeking their first license and whose professions are now available on CORE should utilize IDFPR’s new licensing system to apply for licensure. The additional license types launched on CORE this week can be found by clicking here.

To date, 70 initial professional license applications are now available on CORE. 

Second EMTALA Webinar Focuses on Screening, Transfers
Understanding what constitutes an adequate screening exam or an appropriate patient transfer remains a central challenge for emergency care teams—and a continued source of regulatory scrutiny.

The second session in IHA’s three-part Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) webinar series will take place Wednesday, July 23, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. CT, focusing on real-world guidance for evaluating patients and managing transfers, with added emphasis on behavioral health and obstetric care. The final EMTALA webinar will take place Aug. 6.

Led by health policy expert Nancy M. Ruzicka, the July 23 session will also explore recent CMS communications regarding pregnant women and women in labor, and how failure to follow proper documentation protocols has resulted in civil monetary penalties for hospitals nationwide.

• By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
  Outline the 2024 changes to required EMTALA signage and proper placement;
• Describe what constitutes an adequate medical screening exam for behavioral health, obstetric and other patients;
• Specify appropriate documentation for certification of false labor; and
• Identify key elements of a compliant patient transfer.

This webinar is designed for emergency department staff, physicians, nurses, compliance and risk officers, behavioral health professionals, and hospital leaders. Registration is $195 per webinar for IHA-member hospitals, and nurse continuing education credit is available. Registrants will also receive access to the recording for 30 days following the session.

Staff contact: Bridget McCarte