Final EMTALA Webinar Highlights Physician and Risk Management
Managing high-risk patient encounters and ensuring compliance with on-call physician appearance and emergency department response requirements remain key areas of regulatory focus under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
The third and final session of IHA's EMTALA webinar series will take place Tuesday, Aug. 6, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., focusing on managing situations like patients leaving against medical advice or without being seen, along with key documentation practices to mitigate regulatory risk.
By the end of the session, attendees will be able to:
- Clarify on-call physician requirements and ED response expectations;
- Summarize the Office of Inspector General's physician-related violations;
- Understand the Quality Improvement Organization's role in EMTALA surveys and reporting; and
- Improve documentation for complex or noncompliant patient encounters.
Registration is $195 for IHA member hospitals, and continuing nursing education credit is available. Registrants will also receive access to the recording for 30 days following the session.
DEADLINE TOMORROW: Medicaid IMPACT Revalidations Due July 31
The Illinois Dept. of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) is currently conducting IMPACT Medicaid provider revalidations. Providers in the July cohort must complete IMPACT revalidations by this Thursday, July 31. Completing this information is necessary to continue receiving Medicaid reimbursement. If you are in this revalidation cycle and do not submit your revalidation information by July 31 you will be disenrolled from the IMPACT system and cannot receive retroactive enrollment. IHA urges all providers to check their revalidation cycle due date—including physicians and physician groups affiliated with your hospitals—and to check for any incomplete revalidations. NOTE: If a physician providing services at your hospital does not revalidate, your hospital will not receive payment for those services provided by that physician.
To check your revalidation due date, search the basic information page of your IMPACT enrollment. HFS has provided IHA with step-by-step instructions to check the status and due date of servicing providers that you can access
here. The
IMPACT Provider Revalidation website includes step-by-step instructions, a frequently asked questions document and townhall webinar recording.
HHS Pilot Program to Combat Hepatitis C In Homeless Communities
The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently
announced a $100 million pilot program designed to prevent, test for, treat and cure hepatitis C for individuals with substance use disorder or a serious mental illness. HHS said the program is designed to support communities severely affected by homelessness, and was developed and will be administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
SAMHSA is offering between 13 and 40 grant awards of up to $2.5 million to $7.5 million per award for the first two years, with a maximum funding allotment of three years. Applications are due by August 1. For more information, see the
Notice of Funding Opportunity.
Report: One in Four U.S. Adults are Family Caregivers
Recently, AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving released a sweeping new report that paints a stark picture of the state of family caregiving in America. Caregiving in the U.S. 2025 reveals that 63 million Americans—nearly 1 in 4 adults—provided ongoing care for an adult or a child with a complex medical condition or a disability in the past year, an increase of 20 million from 2015 to 2025. Of these 63 million caregivers, 59 million were caring for someone over 18. Notably, the report found that just over 20% of caregivers have received formal training on medical and nursing tasks despite over half managing complex medical and nursing tasks like injections, wound care, or medication management. The report is available
here.
