The Joint Commission announced it will eliminate 200 standards for ambulatory and behavioral care centers, critical-access hospitals, laboratories, and nursing homes as part of its review of accreditation requirements, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Illinois, Maryland, and Minnesota.

• Illinois: The Joint Commission announced it will eliminate 200 standards for ambulatory and behavioral care centers, critical-access hospitals, laboratories, and nursing homes as part of its review of accreditation requirements, marking the second major adjustments the organization has made to its accreditation programs. According to Joint Commission president and CEO Jonathan Perlin, the changes aim to refocus quality and safety goals while reducing administrative burden on health systems. Perlin added that he hopes Joint Commission standards will align with those of other reporting agencies and will cut down on requirements that go "above and beyond." The standards being removed will be retired effective Aug. 27. (Devereaux, Modern Healthcare, 7/20)
• Maryland: Dan Tsai, deputy administrator of CMS, on Wednesday urged states to do as much as they can to avoid large Medicaid coverage losses as they continue working through the backlog of Medicaid eligibility determinations. "We put out additional policy, levers, and strategies for states that all get at reducing procedural termination rates, and our hope … is that all states take up every one of those policy flexibilities," Tsai said. "If all states do that, we will see a reduction in procedural terminations, and we will see an increase in the number of eligible people that maintain coverage. That is the bottom line and why we have been urging and partnering with states to … make sure they are following every federal requirement." An estimate from KFF shows that enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP has increased to almost 95 million people, putting Medicaid in an "unprecedented" situation, according to the agency. "Business as usual in the past, included a lot of eligible people losing coverage for a period of time for procedural reasons, and then coming back onto coverage at a later point," Tsai said. "That's not something we believe we should accept as the status quo." (Tong, Fierce Healthcare, 7/19)
•  Minnesota: UnitedHealth Group* has named Amar Desai as CEO of Optum Health, effective immediately. Desai previously worked as president of healthcare delivery at CVS Health and as leader of Optum's Pacific West region. In a post on LinkedIn, Desai said he's "looking forward to working with our team who always put patients and caregivers at the center of everything we do, and focus on making each interaction and moment with our patients matter." (Hudson, Modern Healthcare, 7/19)

*Advisory Board is a subsidiary of Optum, a division of UnitedHealth Group. All Advisory Board research, expert perspectives, and recommendations remain independent.