REMINDER: IHA Compliance Webinar on Life Safety, Physical Environment
Compliance expert Nancy Ruzicka will share strategies to prevent common survey deficiencies in the hospital physical environment during an IHA webinar this Friday, Oct. 24. The webinar, “
Life Safety and Physical Environment: Survey Issues,” will address the increase in environment of care citations in recent years, drilling down into the top issues for hospital to address.
The 9-10 a.m. CT session is designed for:
- Facilities teams, including engineers, maintenance and environmental services staff;
- Compliance and regulatory professionals;
- Risk managers, safety officers and quality improvement leaders; and
- Legal counsel and other staff involved in compliance and survey preparation.
Ruzicka, a former surveyor and recognized expert on state and federal rules, regulations, and interpretative guidelines, will also discuss recent updates on critical topics from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, including changes in ligature-resistant environments; categorical waivers; and air pressure and humidity requirements in surgical suites.
Nurse continuing education credit is available. The webinar recording will be available to registrants for 30 days after the session. Registration fees are $195 for hospitals and $395 for health systems.
Register today.
October 19-25 Is International Infection Prevention Week
International Infection Prevention Week aims to shine a light on infection prevention each and every year. IHA would like to thank our members for their dedication to their infection prevention programs. Infection preventionists play a crucial role in keeping us safe and healthy by protecting the healthcare community from surges in healthcare-associated infections, outbreaks, and many other day-to-day battles with infectious diseases.
This week, IHA will be sending out daily Infection Prevention News You Can Use newsletters, which will feature information about different infection prevention topics and resources that your facility can use to augment your infection prevention program. We encourage you to share this information with other healthcare professionals to raise awareness of infection prevention practices.
Click here to access today’s Infection Prevention News You Can Use newsletter.
Thank you for all you do to keep your patients, colleagues, family members and community safe.
Urgent Mitigation of Vulnerabilities in F5 Devices
The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) is encouraging the Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) sector to take immediate action in response to a confirmed cyber breach involving F5 hardware and software. HHS said a nation-state-affiliated cyber threat actor has successfully infiltrated F5’s systems, specifically those related to its widely deployed BIG-IP line of application delivery and security products. The threat actor accessed portions of F5’s BIG-IP source code and vulnerability information, providing them with a technical advantage to exploit F5 devices and software. Given that BIG-IP devices are often positioned at critical points in enterprise networks handling authentication, traffic flow, and API interactions, successful exploitation could lead to credential theft, lateral movement, data exfiltration, persistent access, and potentially full compromise of targeted information systems.
In response, the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued
Emergency Directive (ED) 26-01 to federal agencies. The directive includes background information and mitigation steps that HPH organizations can also leverage. It is critical to locate, secure, patch, or disconnect affected F5 devices and software to reduce risk and prevent compromise.
Fall Veto Session Update
The Illinois General Assembly has concluded the first week of a two-week Veto Session, and lawmakers have returned to their districts for a one-week break before both chambers reconvene for the final week of Veto Session Oct. 28-30. The Senate met on Tuesday and Wednesday but canceled its Thursday session. Meanwhile, the House met as scheduled from Tuesday through Thursday.
This week, it’s important the hospital community continues to push for passage of Patient Access to Pharmacy Protection Act (HB 2371 SA 2), essential legislation to safeguard the 340B program and protect patients’ access to affordable care.
Click here to access IHA’s digital messaging platform to send a pre-populated message directly to your House Representative and State Senator.
With only three days left in the scheduled 2025 legislative session your advocacy is more important than ever.
As expected, legislative action last week was fairly light. Caucuses in both chambers met to strategize and discuss potential agenda items. Both the House and Senate positioned legislation for potential action either during the Veto Session or beyond, while a handful of amendments were filed. Several committees met to discuss specific legislation, while others held subject matter hearings on various issues. In terms of specific action, the House considered one amendatory veto and several non-binding resolutions, while the Senate passed three bills, approved one motion to concur, and approved several resolutions. No action was taken on the more controversial issues of energy, the transit fiscal cliff and immigration enforcement.
