(410 ILCS 225/9)

Sec. 9. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services; consultation; data reporting.

(a) The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, which administers the Illinois Medicaid Program and the Covering ALL KIDS Health Insurance Program, shall consult with statewide organizations focused on premature infant healthcare in order to:

(1) examine and improve hospital discharge and follow-up care procedures for premature infants born earlier than 37 weeks gestational age to ensure standardized and coordinated processes are followed as premature infants leave the hospital from either a Level 1 (well baby nursery), Level 2 (step down or transitional nursery), or Level 3 (neonatal intensive care unit) unit and transition to follow-up care by a health care provider in the community; and

(2) use guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Neonatal Outcome Improvement Project to implement programs to improve newborn outcome, reduce newborn health costs, and establish ongoing quality improvement for newborns.

(b) In consultation with statewide organizations representing hospitals, the Department of Public Health shall consider mechanisms to collect discharge data for purposes of analyzing readmission rates of certain premature infants.

(Source: P.A. 96-1117, eff. 7-20-10.)