MHA Today | May 1, 2024

Staff Contact: Jane Drummond

Monday, the Missouri Senate passed SB 751 on to the House for final consideration. The version passed by the Senate represents a compromise encouraged by Senate Floor Leader Cindy O’Laughlin and prohibits pharmaceutical manufacturers from restricting the number of contract pharmacies 340B entities can use. The final vote in the Senate was 28-3.

The House passed nearly identical language as part of its larger pharmacy bill (HB 2267) just two weeks ago on a vote of 113-28. SB 751 is scheduled to be heard in the House Special Committee on Special Policy on Thursday, May 2.

Staff Contact: Michael Pennington or Mat Reidhead

HIDI today launched enhancements to its hospital-specific health equity dashboards initially released in 2023. These dashboards enable hospitals to better understand and manage health disparities and service delivery across diverse patient demographics. The advanced toolset offers in-depth, stratified analyses of hospital utilization, geographical disparities, maternal and child health, and the impacts of specific conditions on patient readmissions and mortality. Developed in collaboration with MHA quality and health equity stakeholders, the newest set of dashboards are available to HIDI-participating hospitals at no cost.

To coincide with the release, all dashboards in the series will be available in the Determinants of Health Dashboards suite in Care Optics. Users may gain access to their specific Tableau-based dashboard through the HIDI Advantage^® user portal or may request access by contacting HIDI. Register for the live training webinar scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 7.

Staff Contact: Jane Drummond

Three lawsuits have been filed to stop the Federal Trade Commission from implementing its rule banning noncompete agreements across all industries in the U.S. Several trade associations, along with private businesses, have filed the suits in federal courts in Texas and Pennsylvania. All three suits allege the commission lacks statutory authority to impose the rule and rulemaking irregularities. All seek injunctive relief to prevent the rule from going into effect. The rule is slated to become effective in early September.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas indicated in a scheduling order that it would ensure the case pending before it was heard and decided prior to the rule’s effective date. The other two courts have not issued scheduling orders or responded to motions for expedited decisions.

Staff Contact: Dave Dillon

MHA launched a new podcast, PolicyHuddle, to keep you in the know on the big issues and ideas impacting hospitals and health care in Missouri. PolicyHuddle is available on major podcast platforms, and episodes will be published monthly. Subscribe to hear from policy experts on a wide range of health care topics.

On our first episode, Dr. Alison Williams, MHA’s vice president of clinical quality improvement, discusses maternal health improvement and the Missouri Perinatal Quality Collaborative. The Missouri PQC is a collaboration of partners, led by MHA, all working together to provide better, healthier outcomes for moms and their babies throughout our state and communities. All hospitals — whether they offer birthing services or not — can benefit from the knowledge and networks the PQC offers.