Angie's Blog

HealthCap® USA

Angie Szumlinski, NHA, RN-BC, RAC-CT and BS

Director of Risk Management

Angie Szumlinski Ms. Szumlinski is a nationally-recognized leader in long-term care with experience as an Owner/Provider, Administrator, Director of Nursing, Corporate Quality Assurance Coordinator and independent consultant. Ms. Szumlinski conducts risk management visits at facilities across the country, touching every acuity level within the post-acute care spectrum. Ms. Szumlinski served as an Associated Board Member for NCAL, is a member of the AHCA/NCAL Quality Committee, NCAL Risk Management Committee, HCAM Legal/Clinical Committee and is a Senior Examiner/Team Leader for the AHCA/NCAL Quality Award Program. Ms. Szumlinski is a Nurse Planner for the HealthCap^® ANCC accredited education program.

Risky Business

Angie Szumlinski April 1, 2020 Health, News

On March 29, 2020, AMDA and AHCA/NCAL published a memo discussing the importance of dealing with surge management and conflicting guidelines and public policy around hospital-to-nursing home or hospital-to-assisted living community transfers. Of deep concern was the recent New York State order which states: “No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH solely based on a confirmed …

Pandemic – Manage the Stress

Angie Szumlinski April 1, 2020 Health

The pandemic outbreak of COVID-19 is stressful for everyone however the physical and emotional wellbeing of healthcare workers is a key component of maintaining essential healthcare services during the COVID-19 virus (coronavirus) outbreak. Resources are available to anticipate the stresses associated with providing healthcare workers and monitoring and assessing the mental health status as well as the overall wellbeing of …

Survey Agency Announcement

Angie Szumlinski March 31, 2020 Compliance

While CMS had also previously announced that its infection-control efforts would be concentrated in areas with significant numbers of COVID-19 cases — including California, New York, and the Seattle metropolitan area — Verma on Monday said its new strategies will take things a step further. Using the CDC’s database of reported COVID-19 cases and modeling tools, CMS will attempt to deploy its …

Telehealth – Finally!

Angie Szumlinski March 31, 2020 Health, News

During this public health emergency there has been an urgency to expand telehealth/telemedicine to help people receive a wider range of services from their doctors without going to a healthcare facility. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, telehealth was only covered under Medicare/Medicaid for rural providers and existing patients. In order to reduce person-to-person contact with our most vulnerable population, and …

Coronavirus in Skilled Nursing Facilities

Angie Szumlinski March 30, 2020 Compliance

In the March 27, 2020 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the CDC indicated that once SARS-CoV-2 is introduced into a Skilled Nursing Facility, rapid transmission can occur. They noted that the implication for facilities is that symptom-based screening of SNF residents might fail to identify all SARS-CoV-2 infections. They summarize with once a facility has confirmed a COVID-19 case, all …

DOL Defines Healthcare Providers Who Can Be Excluded From The FFCRA

Angie Szumlinski March 30, 2020 News

On Saturday March 28, 2020 the Dept. of Labor issued guidance on the definition of health care provider who can be excluded from paid sick leave and the FMLA expansion under the FFCRA. Essentially anyone who works in health care can be excluded, the Guidance states as follows: A healthcare provider is anyone employed at any doctor’s office, hospital, healthcare …

Don’t Forget the Documentation!

Angie Szumlinski March 25, 2020 Compliance

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many aspects of our lives. For long term care providers, this has affected day-to-day operations in a way that could almost never have been imagined. “Care over paper” is the trend today however from a regulatory perspective as well as a liability perspective, it is critically important that we maintain accurate, timely documentation on what …

CMS Request for 1135 Medicaid Waivers

Angie Szumlinski March 24, 2020 News

On March 13, 2020, President Trump declared the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation a national emergency. This bold action enables the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to waive certain requirements in Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP under Section 1135 emergency Authority. CMS may grant state and territorial Medicaid agencies a wider range of flexibilities and states may now submit Section …

Complying with ADA During COVID-19

Angie Szumlinski March 24, 2020 News

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a press release on March 19, 2020 “What You Should Know About the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and COVID-19.” The summary covers some common employer questions about what they can do during a pandemic such as COVID-19 without violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or the Rehabilitation Act. During a pandemic, employees may: …

COVID-19 New Symptoms: BE AWARE!

Angie Szumlinski March 23, 2020 News

The CDC just released two new symptoms to be alert to when assessing for COVID-19. New cases of COVID-19 were identified where the only symptoms were the loss of the sense of smell and taste. These new symptoms are troubling in that these symptoms have not mirrored the typical presentation of cough, elevated body temperature, sore throat, etc. We have …

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Ep 11 Root Cause Analysis
When an incident occurs, what do you do? Are you just running around putting out fires? Listen as HealthCap Risk Managers Patti Sweet and Donna Long explain the Root Cause Analysis process and why you should be doing it in your facility.
Ep 10 Coronavirus and Infection Control
It's no wonder coronavirus is all over the news. With the number of cases of coronavirus at over 20,000 in China, the number of cases in the U.S. has now risen to over 10. Many of us in the Senior Living Industry are thinking about our community and wondering what we would do it the […]
Ep 9 Great Care Starts with Being Nice
Of course, our #1 priority is providing great care for our senior living residents, but did you know that how you treat your caregivers will affect how residents are treated? In this episode, Peter talks with HealthCap Risk Managers Joy Schultz and Sherry Mastropietro on their experience in skilled nursing and long term care facilities […]
Ep. 8 Ransomware and Cyber Attacks in Senior Living
Listening to the news it seems that cyber-attacks are becoming more and more common. Is the Senior Living Community being targeted? What do hackers want? In today's podcast, Peter and Angie talk with James Gutierrez, Director of IT at HealthCap. Listen to hear what you should do and how you can mitigate damage if you […]
Ep. 7 Recharge Your Employees
During this end of the year episode, Peter and Angie talk about things you can do to get your employees recharged for the upcoming year.