A press release from CMS contains information about a set of toolkits meant to help healthcare systems administer a COVID-19 vaccine when available, new plans to remove regulatory barriers and ensure coverage, and established new rules about vaccine payments. Their toolkits also hold specific information for several programs like Medicare, Medicaid, private plans, and several others. Click below to read …
ECRI is a non-profit, independent organization that utilizes an unbiased, evidence-based approach to develop guidance and maintain their principles of integrity and transparent work. Their ethical standards have led them to adopt the industry’s strictest conflict-of-interest policies and they are why tens of thousands of healthcare leaders worldwide rely on ECRI to guide their clinical, operational, and strategic decisions across …
Pursuant to the joint Department of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs (LARA) and Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS) letter for AFC-HFA COVID-19 Reporting issued October 22, 2020, all licensed Adult Foster Care (AFC) and Homes for The Aged (HFA) facilities with bed capacity of 13 or greater are required to report COVID-19 data weekly in Qualtrics beginning October 28, 2020. …
Beginning next week on October 28, 2020 skilled nursing facility providers need only report COVID data to EMResources on a weekly basis. The Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS) issued L 20-65 sharing the updated reporting guidance yesterday. This move comes in response the recommendation made by Governor Whitmer’s Nursing Home Task Force to reduce reporting burden on providers. With …
Elemental Medium has published a special week-long series “Six Months In” reflecting on where we’ve been, what we’ve learned and what the future holds for the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first of the series, Elemental states “one of the most challenging aspects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is that even six months in so much is still unknown and uncertain. …
In a recent publication in the Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, there was a discussion regarding finding the right balance on opening visitation in nursing homes and distinguishing between family caregivers and social visitors. The information is interesting and summarized below for your reading pleasure. The link for the complete article is also included if you would like …
There has been a lot of discussion regarding whether the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be spread through indirect contact on environmental surfaces. Although the debate continues, a recent study was published that indicates there may be more to this than some may think. Two Chinese students studying overseas returned to China on March 19 and March 20. On the day of …
White House Announces Vaccination Distribution Program for LTC Residents Today, the White House announced the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program–a national vaccine distribution program for long term care residents. The COVID-19 vaccine will likely become available in phases over the coming months. To prepare, the federal government has partnered with CVS and Walgreens to distribute and administer the vaccine …
Facility-wide, serial testing in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) can identify asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections among health care personnel (HCP) and residents to inform mitigation efforts. A recent report published on the CDC.gov website provided additional information on this topic when two Minnesota SNFs identified COVID-19 cases among 64% of residents and 33% of HCP. Genetic sequencing found facility-specific clustering of viral …
On September 23, 2020, the Senate Financial Committee released a Majority Staff Report titled, COVID-19 In Nursing Homes: What Went Wrong and Next Steps. The introduction summarizes the report as follows: “This report discusses the findings of the majority staff of the United States Senate Committee on Finance, following a review of nursing home performance during the first eight months …
