On November 1, the CDC released sobering new data that showed a 3% increase in infant mortality in 2022. This is critical as infant mortality has steadily decreased over the last several years and this data shows the largest year-to-year increase in more than 20 years. Maternal and infant health is fundamental to all health. Read our statement. [CDC and March of Dimes]

One of the leading factors in infant mortality is preterm birth. Now, more than ever, it's critical that we do all we can towards ending preventable preterm birth. This November is the 20th anniversary of Prematurity Awareness Month. Please join us to raise awareness of the maternal and infant health crisis our country is facing.

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Opioid use during pregnancy has greatly increased in the past 3 decades.¹ Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are an effective treatment, but use of MOUD remains low.¹ Little is known about the association between MOUD use in pregnancy and improved outcomes for children of pregnant people with opioid use disorder (OUD).^2-5 This omission from the literature is important, as treatment during the prenatal period may have long-term implications for infant health by ameliorating the harm caused by untreated OUD. Using a multistate Medicaid claims database on mother-infant dyads, we examined the association between receipt of prenatal MOUD and health services use (recommended number of well-child visits, emergency department [ED] visits, and rehospitalization) during the first year of life. [JAMA Network]

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On April 10, 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a resolution officially terminating the Covid-19 national emergency in the United States. The public health emergency ended 1 month later. In September 2022, Biden had stated that “the pandemic is over,” when during that month, there were more than 10,000 deaths involving Covid-19 nationwide. [The New England Journal of Medicine]

The United States is, of course, not the only country to have made such pronouncements. Several European countries declared an end to the emergency associated with the pandemic in 2022, lifting restrictions and starting to manage Covid-19 more like influenza. What insights can be derived from past declarations of this sort?

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Join us for the 9th State of Health of Chicago! The Institute of Medicine of Chicago, hosts this biannual event to discuss the critical issues impacting healthcare and public health from this convening with thought leaders.  The State of Health of Chicago is a pivotal event as diverse leaders discuss and define imperative challenges that are barriers to advancing healthcare equity and reducing healthcare disparities. The purpose is to identify areas that demand attention for action and initiatives to drive a path to reduce healthcare disparities. 

We are honored that Dr. Bechara Choucair, MD, SVP and Chief Health Officer of Kaiser Permanente- Kaiser Foundation Health Plan & Hospitals will join us.  In addition, a diverse panel of speakers will discuss key issues facing the healthcare and public health community.  Health  News Illinois is the moderator of the panel discussion. The educational forum will be followed by a networking reception.

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IOMC join Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of The American Public Health Association, in this webinar to discuss the role of public health practitioners as chief health strategists and how to build modernized public health system. The webinar is open to all- Nov. 28th at 830 AM CT. 

The American Public Health Association champions the health of all people and all communities. They are the only organization that combines a 150-year perspective, a broad-based member community and the ability to influence policy to improve the public's health. www.apha.org

Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, MD is known as one of the nation’s most influential physician leaders because he speaks passionately and eloquently about the health issues having the most impact on our nation today. From his firsthand experience as a physician, he knows what happens when preventive care is not available and when the healthy choice is not the easy choice. As executive director of APHA since 2002, he is leading the Association’s push to make America the healthiest nation.

More details and to register here>

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Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined colleagues this week to urge a federal court to uphold an initiative of the Biden administration intended to make it easier for legal immigrants to access Medicaid and other federal programs. [Health News Illinois] 

The 17 attorneys general wrote in a brief to the Southern District of Texas that the administration’s changes to the so-called “public charge” rules will support states in their efforts to get immigrants and their families to enroll in and access health and nutrition programs for which they are eligible.

They said it will help improve immunization rates and reduce the financial and administrative burden on states’ public health agencies, health systems and safety-net providers.

“Everyone, regardless of where they are born, deserves the right to critical healthcare and housing programs,” Raoul said in a statement. “I urge the court to uphold these policy changes to ensure hardworking immigrants and their families have access to the programs that protect their well-being.”

The Biden administration announced the rule in 2022, restoring the public charge policy to what it was before former President Donald Trump, whose administration moved to make it easier for the federal government to deny immigrants green cards if they receive government benefits.

 Texas has sued over the Biden administration’s rule, requesting the court block its enforcement.

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The federal government must do more to address maternal health outcomes, specifically among Black women, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Matteson, said this weekend. [Health News Illinois]

The lawmakers and officials from the United States Health Resources and Services Administration participated in a roundtable discussion in Chicago on maternal health disparities and ways to provide resources and support for women at risk.

Kelly noted that Illinois has taken several steps to address the issue, including extending the Medicaid postpartum period to a full year, but “there is so much more that needs to be done.”

“In the richest country in the world, it is unacceptable that the United States continues to fail moms and babies,” she said. “Black and Native women, especially, are most likely to die from pregnancy-related complications because of systemic racism.”

Kelly noted Congress has passed several proposals to address the matter, including one that tasks the Department of Health and Human Services with identifying, developing and disseminating best practices to improve maternal healthcare.

A report earlier this month from the Department of Public Health found Black Illinois women continue to die at disparately higher rates from medical causes, while substance use disorder is the leading cause of pregnancy-related death.

“This isn’t some Catch-22," Duckworth said. "There are real — and easy-to-implement — solutions, and I’m going to keep pushing on the federal level to help end this crisis once and for all."

The senator reintroduced a plan last week to grant paid leave to individuals who have experienced pregnancy loss.

The Health Resources and Services Administration has held events across the country in the past month to raise awareness of the issue.

 "We stand with the families of Chicago and are committed to the work of supporting safer pregnancies, eliminating health disparities and helping families to thrive,” agency Administrator Carole Johnson said in a statement.

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The Department of Public Health said Friday it will launch an awareness campaign to urge vaccination this fall to address the expected rise of flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus.

The "Tis the Sneezin’" campaign will include advertisements on cable, broadcast and streaming channels, as well as on radio, billboards and bus shelters. Advertisements will be in both English and Spanish.

“IDPH is continuing to work closely with local, state and federal partners to monitor the three respiratory viruses that caused last fall and winter’s tripledemic,” agency Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a statement. “We encourage all Illinois residents to do the same to prevent illness and protect yourself and your loved ones.”

The announcement comes as the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that no counties in Illinois are at an elevated level for COVID-19 hospitalizations, down from six the prior week.

IDPH noted that COVID-19 hospitalizations have been trending downward in recent weeks, with 503 hospitalizations for the week ending Oct. 14 — an 8 percent drop from the prior week.

 More than 170,000 courses of therapeutic medications remain available free of charge through providers and pharmacies until supplies run out.

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This conversation is part of a series of interviews in which JAMA Editor in Chief Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS, and expert guests explore issues surrounding the rapidly evolving intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and medicine. [JAMA Network]

How is generative AI catalyzing a paradigm shift in medical education? What will it mean for AI to assist in medical school applications or clinical teaching? And can AI be harnessed to elevate the skills and acumen of clinicians while also allowing them to connect more deeply with their humanity in encounters with patients?

Needless to say, when it comes to med school, it’s a brave new world.

It’s the world Bernard S. Chang, MD, MMSc (Video), has been steeped in since being named dean for medical education at Harvard Medical School this summer. JAMA Editor in Chief Kirsten Bibbins Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS, recently spoke with Chang, who is the Daniel D. Federman, MD, professor of neurology at Harvard and a practicing neurologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

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A recent analysis found only a modest difference in outcomes after in-person medical visits compared with telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic, “suggesting that telephone or video telemedicine was still capable of addressing most patient clinical concern areas,” the researchers wrote. [JAMA]

The study involved nearly 1.6 million US adults in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California health system. The researchers analyzed more than 2 million primary care visits in 2021, about half of which were telemedicine appointments.

The rates of treatment, including medication prescribing, were lower with telephone and video primary care visits than with in-person office visits, while the rates of follow-up health care visits, such as hospitalizations and visits to the emergency department, were higher. But these differences were small.

The differences in certain study outcomes were smaller for some types of appointments, such as those addressing mental health concerns, compared with others, like musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, or skin concerns. Telemedicine appointments, which can mitigate barriers to care such as lack of transportation or inability to get time off work, might be more appropriate for certain types of visits, the researchers noted in Annals of Internal Medicine.

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