Conference provides tools to adapt to changing health care
IHA’s 2023 Iowa Association for Healthcare Quality Conference will prepare hospitals for the everchanging health care environment. Participants will learn from Barbara Hanson and Selenthia Jeffers, co-founders of Shared Existence, about creating an inclusive health care culture that values lived experiences. Their session will review designing inclusive policies and putting those policies into practice.

Other topics discussed during the conference include:

• Building professional skills for quality leaders.
• Demonstrating IHA’s new online community.
• Reviewing IHA advocacy efforts.
• Writing Department of Inspections and Appeals action plans.

The conference is scheduled from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 27. Email Autumn McGill at IHA with questions.

Register for EMTALA webinar series
IHA is offering a three-part series for Medicare-certified hospitals reviewing regulations and interpretative guidelines for the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. Nancy Ruzicka, a consultant on state and federal regulations, will discuss components of the law over the course of three sessions:

• Part One, Wednesday, May 31, focuses on the basic requirements of EMTALA and available resources.
• Part Two, Wednesday, June 7, reviews medical screening examinations for behavioral health, obstetrics and other patients.
• Part Three, Wednesday, June 14, focuses on physician involvement in the process.

Each session of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act virtual series is scheduled from 10 a.m.-noon.

Providers reminded to use stand-alone COVID-19 vaccine counseling codes
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services requires states to cover costs for stand-alone COVID-19 vaccine counseling. Stand-alone counseling occurs when a Medicaid member or caregiver receives counseling from a health care practitioner about the vaccine, but the person does not receive the vaccination at the same time as the counseling.

Physicians should use certain codes when submitting claims for stand-alone COVID-19 vaccine counseling. The codes vary based on time spent, patient age and other factors. Contact Iowa Medicaid Provider Services or the appropriate managed care organizations with questions.

Four-day conference addresses sexual assault response
In the first-ever Sexual Assault Response Conference, participants will learn to compassionately care for victims of sexual assault. The four-day conference is open to any professional who works with victims of sexual assault including advocates, law enforcement, prosecution and health care providers.

Sessions include information about:

• Establishing resiliency for sexual assault professionals.
• Human trafficking in Iowa.
• Recognizing the effects of trauma on victim behavior.
• Treating sexually transmitted infections after sexual violence exposure.

Keynote addresses from WHO TV-13 anchor Erin Kiernan, detectives Stacy Galbraith and Edna Hendershot, and author and attorney Mark Yarbrough. One day also is dedicated to a mock trial.

The conference is scheduled from Monday, April 24, to Thursday, April 27, at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center in Ames.