CHICAGO—The Institute of Medicine of Chicago  (IOMC) named  four recipients for its 2022 Healthcare Awards. They are Ms. Donna Thompson, RN, MS, Dr. Lisa Green, DO, MPH, Ukraine Medical Association – State of Illinois, and University of Illinois- Department of Emergency Medicine. The awardees were selected for their work, solutions, and impact. Each recipient was innovative in advancing health equity the mission of IOMC. The awards will be presented at the 2022 Annual Meeting on June 30, 2022, at VenueSix 10 in Chicago, Illinois.  Dr. Helene Gayle, MD, MPH, CEO of the Chicago Community Trust will be guest speaker of the evening. For more details, visit this page.   

Full news release here> 

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This Viewpoint outlines some of the coverage requirements ofMedicare,3 the largest payer for health care services in the US, as an exemplar of the nuances of this key translation pipeline step. A better understanding of this process could help develop research programs, including those funded by NIH, that would generate evidence that better meets evidentiary requirements and that translate scientific discoveries into care and services that improve thehealthofindividualsandpopulations.Itmayalsostimulateinterestinunderstanding the coverage determination procedures of other large payers. Research efforts to generate evidence that meets payer requirements (ie, relevance to covered populations, improvements in health outcomes) through design and methodological clarity could accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into clinical care and reduce health inequities. {JAMA 5.26.2022]

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A better understanding of the payer perspective could facilitate achieving higher-value service delivery at multiple levels of the health care system. At the population level, improved understanding of coverage determinations could encourage the conduct of studies that support or refute the use of specific items or services in specific populations, and thus minimize risk and optimize benefits to specific populations. 

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Obesity is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality and has been declared a national health priority, with higher prevalence among African American/Black women.1 In the U.S., the obesity epidemic is widespread across all age groups, with rates in racial and ethnic minority populations apparent as early as the school years.2,3 Social Determinants of Health, sedentary behavior, easy access to caloric dense foods of lower nutritional value, and inadequate health insurance coverage place racial/ethnic minority populations such as Blacks/African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos at higher risk of multiple chronic diseases and poor quality of life. Moderate and severe obesity increases the risk of obesity-related complications, such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, and diabetes,4 and recent findings revealed that obesity is a risk factor for hospitalization and death because of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).5 Intervention efforts for treating and preventing obesity require a multifactorial approach given that contributing factors can include diet, physical activity, stress, income, psychological factors, and access to treatments.2 [American Journal of Preventative Medicine July 2022]

Full article here>

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2022 Scorecard on State Health System Performance | How did states do during the COVID-19 pandemic? Check out Illinois - ranked 22nd.

From the Commonwealth Fund...

COVID-19 took a huge toll on Americans’ health, directly and indirectly, but that toll varied dramatically by state.

Hawaii and Massachusetts top the 2022 State Scorecard rankings, based on overall performance across 56 measures of health care access and quality, service use and cost, health disparities, and health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The lowest-performing states were Mississippi, Oklahoma, and West Virginia.

The pandemic’s impact reverberated throughout the health system in every state, as health care use fell and deaths from drug overdoses and treatable causes rose.

Federal pandemic relief policies helped stabilize insurance coverage.

Opportunities exist to strengthen states’ insurance coverage and care delivery systems so they are better able to withstand future health emergencies.

Download the Illinois report here>Illinois_scorecard_COVID Response_6.2022.pdf

See links for other states here>

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The Commonwealth Fund released its 2022 Scorecard on State Health System Performance, which was modified from previous years to factor each state's response and management of the COVID-19 pandemic into its grade.[Becker's Health Review]

The Commonwealth Fund evaluated states on 56 performance measures grouped into seven dimensions: (1) access and affordability, (2) prevention and treatment, (3) avoidable hospital use and cost, (4) healthy lives, (5) COVID-19, (6) income disparity and (7) racial and ethnic equity. The report generally reflects data from 2020, although seven new measures tied to COVID-19 incorporate data through the first quarter of 2022.

Some insights into the rankings and scores: 

• Hawaii ranked No. 1 for its COVID-19 response and management, helping its overall No. 1 ranking. 
• Alabama ranked No. 51 for its COVID-19 response and management, moving down its overall ranking to No. 46. 
• Utah ranked No. 1 for avoidable hospital use and cost; West Virginia ranked No. 51. 
• Massachusetts ranked No. 2 overall, but it led the country for four dimensions: access and affordability; prevention and treatment; healthy lives and racial and ethnic equity.

Below is each state and its overall ranking, which includes ties. The complete ranking and scoring can be found here. 

1. Hawaii

2. Massachusetts

3. Connecticut 

4. Washington

5. Vermont

6. Rhode Island

7. Maryland

8. New Hampshire

9. Minnesota

10. New York

11. California

12. Colorado

13. District of Columbia 

14. Pennsylvania
*Oregon
*Maine

17. Iowa

18. New Jersey

19. Utah

20. Virginia

21. Wisconsin

22. Nebraska
*Illinois 

24. Michigan

25. Idaho

26. New Mexico

27. Delaware

28. Montana

29. North Dakota

30. South Dakota
*Alaska

32. Arizona

33. Ohio

34. North Carolina

35. Kansas

36. Florida

37. South Carolina
*Indiana

39. Louisiana

40. Tennessee

41. Wyoming
*Nevada
*Kentucky

44. Georgia
*Arkansas

46. Alabama

47. Missouri

48. Texas

49. West Virginia

50. Oklahoma

51. Mississippi

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Free COVID-19 testing will continue to be made available to every public school outside of Chicago through the upcoming school year, the Department of Public Health announced Tuesday. [Health News Illinois]

The agency will renew its agreement with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to use its saliva-based COVID-19 tests to quickly identify individuals who are positive for COVID-19.

“We want to do everything possible to prevent sickness among our children, which is why this renewal and continued testing is critical,” IDPH Acting Director Amaal Tokars said in a statement.

The program, paid for through federal funds, provided testing for about 1 million students and staff in K-12 schools during the most recent school year, according to IDPH.

A separate testing agreement with the Chicago Department of Public Health covers testing for the city’s charter, parochial and private schools. Chicago Public Schools receives direct federal funding for its own testing program. 

As of Monday, 1,192 Illinoisans were in the hospital with COVID-19, up 48 from Sunday and down 26 from the prior week.

Of the patients in the hospital, 122 were in intensive care units, up five from Sunday and up 11 from the prior week. Twenty-one percent of Illinois’ ICU beds were available, down 1 percentage point from the prior week.

There were 35 patients on ventilators, up four from Sunday and up two from the prior week.

Thirty-two Illinois counties are now at “high” COVID-19 transmission risk, the level at which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people mask indoors in public spaces. An additional 39 counties are now rated at the “medium” risk level.

The Department of Public Health reported 3,879 new COVID-19 cases and 21 deaths on Tuesday. The new cases bring the state total to 3,365,525. The death toll is 33,954.

The seven-day average for new cases on Tuesday was 3,983, down 1,049 from the prior week. The seven-day average for daily deaths is 10, the same as the prior week.

The seven-day case rate per 100,000 people is 31.3, down 8.2 from the prior week.

 Illinois vaccinators have administered 22,509,886 COVID-19 vaccines, including 4,569,097 booster doses. The seven-day average for doses administered is 11,024. 

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Pending authorization from federal regulators, vaccinations for the nation's estimated 19 million children younger than 5 could be available as soon as June 21, The Wall Street Journal reported June 9. [Becker's Health Review]

In anticipation of FDA clearance and CDC sign-off, senior officials told the Journal the Biden administration is gearing up distribution plans for 10 million combined initial doses of Moderna's two-dose vaccine regimen for young children and Pfizer-BioNTech's three-dose regimen. 

In addition to public health clinics, pharmacies and community health centers, the U.S. plans to make vaccinations for kids younger than 5 available at more than 100 children's hospitals and pop-up clinics at children's museums.

An outside FDA advisory panel is set to meet June 14-15 to review the emergency use authorization applications from both Pfizer and Moderna, with the CDC slated to review data to make a recommendation June 17 and 18. 

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Four innovators named in advancing health equity solutions

The Institute of Medicine of Chicago  named  four recipients for its 2022 Healthcare Awards. They are

Ms. Donna Thompson, RN, MS, Dr. Lisa Green, DO, MPH, Ukraine Medical Association – State of Illinois, and University of Illinois,  Department of Emergency Medicine.

The awardees were selected for their initiatives, solutions, and impact on advancing health equity.  The recipients will honored at the 2022 Annual Meeting on June 30, 2022, at VenueSix 10 in Chicago, Illinois.  For more details, visit this page.   

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Over a quarter of Illinois counties are now at “high” COVID-19 transmission risk, according to data released late Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [Health News Illinois]

The 32 counties are at a level where the agency recommends people mask indoors in public spaces, while another 28 counties are rated at the “medium” risk level.

The state’s COVID-19 hospitalizations are falling, though case counts are slowly increasing.

As of Wednesday, 1,180 Illinoisans were in the hospital with COVID-19, down 21 from Tuesday and down 87 from the prior week.

Of the patients in the hospital, 107 were in intensive care units, down 14 from Tuesday and down 11 from the prior week. Twenty-one percent of Illinois’ ICU beds were available, down one percentage point from the prior week.

There were 29 patients on ventilators, down seven from Tuesday and down four from the prior week.

The Department of Public Health reported 4,294 new COVID-19 cases and 10 death on Thursday. The new cases bring the state total to 3,346,836, while the death toll is at 33,914.

The seven-day average for new cases on Thursday was 4,811, up 176 from the prior week. The seven-day average for daily deaths is 10, up three from the prior week.

The seven-day case rate per 100,000 people is 37.8, up 1.4 from the prior week.

Illinois vaccinators have administered 22,471,044 COVID-19 vaccines, including 4,554,223 booster doses. The seven-day average for doses administered is 11,824.

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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced it is establishing an Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ), bringing awareness to the impact of environmental health inequities.

“The blunt truth is that many communities across our nation – particularly low-income communities and communities of color – continue to bear the brunt of pollution from industrial development, poor land use decisions, transportation, and trade corridors,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in the press release. “Meeting the needs of these communities requires our focused attention. That’s why HHS is establishing the Office of Environmental Justice.”

The crisis of climate change is arguably the newest social determinant of health (SDOH), impacting the health of marginalized communities.

Read the full article here>

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