STATE NEWS
Nursing Homes Metric for County Positivity Rate Added to KDHE Website
Here is the new metric nursing homes should use for the County Positivity Rate. Do not use the “School Gating Metric” anymore. The new nursing home-specific metric incorporates CMS’s latest revision related to counties conducting small or very small number of tests. Make sure to check the site and adjust your testing frequency accordingly. Many thanks to LeadingAge national for pushing for this modification by CMS, and to KDHE for accommodating it on their website.
CMS CMP Funding Opportunity for In-person Visitation Assistance
KDADS sent the following message to Kansas nursing homes who may want to apply for a CMP grant for visitation related equipment needs:
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued guidance for Nursing Home Visitation – COVID-19. By following a person-centered approach and adhering to the core principles of COVID-19 infection prevention, visitation can occur safely based on this guidance.
Recognizing that considerations allowing for visitation in each phase of re-opening may be difficult for residents and their families, CMS has developed an application template for requests for the use of Civil Money Penalty (CMP) Reinvestment funds to provide nursing homes with in-person visitation aids. Here is a link to the application. All applications should be submitted to: covid.cmp@ks.gov.
Funding for tents and plexiglass (or similar product), are limited to a maximum of $3,000 per facility. Note, when installing tents, facilities must ensure appropriate Life Safety Code (LSC) requirements found at 42 CFR 483.90 are met, unless waived under the PHE declaration.
Grants Available to State-Licensed Only Facilities for Visitation Assistance
KDADS provided the following information this week to state-licensed only facilities about grants to assist facilities in allowing visitation for residents:
KDADS recognizes that visitor restrictions may be difficult for residents and families for all adult care home types. To help residents stay connected, KDADS has secured funds to purchase tents and plexiglass that will enable residents to visit with family and friends. Facilities may submit a request for up to $750 for assistance with purchasing tents and plexiglass.
Adult Care Homes interested in participating in the tents and plexigass grant program are asked to submit a completed ACH Visitation Application to covid.cmp@ks.gov.
Please note that federally certified nursing homes are not eligible for this grant program as they are eligible for the CMP grant program.
KDADS recognizes the struggle adult care facilities have had purchasing and acquiring personal protective equipment (PPE). To help facilities access PPE from reliable vendors, the Department of Administration Office of Procurement and Contracts completed a request for proposals for vendors to supply PPE and related supplies. The state contract is open to political subdivisions of Kansas including Counties, Cities, Municipalities, School Districts, Higher Education, Long Term Care Facilities and Adult Care Facilities.
PPE Vendor Resources from the Kansas Department of Administration
All long-term care and adult care home facilities will be able to use the State of Kansas master contract (state use contract) to purchase PPE and other COVID-19 related supplies. Approved vendors list.
Facilities will need to review the list of vendors to identify those that have the needed supplies and follow the instructions from each vendor to order supplies. KDADS is not providing funding to facilities to make PPE purchases through these contracts, but rather seeking to make available reliable pipelines for supplies.
State licensed facilities will receive a separate message with instructions about accessing the ordering portal for the SPARK PPE funding KDADS received. State licensed facilities including assisted living, home plus, and residential health care facilities will use a KDADS designated vendor order PPE supplies through this separate program and will have a budgeted allocation assigned to them.
If a facility has an emergency need for supplies, they should continue to reach out to their local emergency management officials.
If facilities have problems or questions regarding the KDADS process for ordering PPE, contact KDADS.reopening@ks.gov.
Special Funding for State Licensed Facilities to Purchase PPE
KDADS received funding from the SPARK Committee on October 1 to help provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and infection control supplies to state licensed adult care homes. KDADS entered an agreement with SOURCE 309 Powered by American Solutions for Business to connect adult care homes with suppliers of critical personal protective equipment (PPE). SOURCE 309 assembled a list of selected PPE supplies that are available to order. The product offering is limited to focus on critical supplies and rapid fulfillment of orders to adult care homes. The products that will be available can be found here.
An online ordering portal is set to launch for facilities on Monday, October 12th. Facilities will receive a username and password, allowing them to login to the site, view available products, and to place orders. Reporting will be made available in the portal so facilities can track purchases.
KDADS will assign a budget to purchase supplies to each adult care home with state licensed beds. The budget will be about $560 per state licensed bed per facility. Upon login, the budgeted amount for each facility will be shown in the SOURCE 309 PPE Portal. Facilities can use the assigned allocation dollars to purchase PPE supplies through the portal. Facilities do not need to provide any additional funds to purchase the PPE supplies through the designated KDADS portal. KDADS will review incoming orders and may make changes to orders to fit within a facility’s budget and to make sure all the SPARK funds are allocated to purchase PPE.
SOURCE 309 will aggregate incoming orders to drive down prices and make individual orders cost effective for members of this program. The target is to ship individual PPE orders 7 to 15 business days after an order has been submitted. Due to demand and market volatility, some items in an order may arrive faster than others – and if market conditions change, some hard to get items like nitrile gloves and N95’s could see extended delivery dates. PPE supplies in the portal may change too based on availability.
If a facility has an emergency need for supplies, they should continue to reach out to their local emergency management officials.
KDADS expectation is that adult care homes will also be able to use the State of Kansas master contract (state use contract) to purchase PPE and other COVID-19 related supplies using their own resources. The vendors on the state contract qualified through a request for proposals process to be verified and reliable suppliers. Here is the link for the approved vendors.
If facilities have problems or questions regarding the KDADS process for ordering PPE, contact KDADS.reopening@ks.gov.
Guidance from Fire Marshal on Patio Heaters
The Fire Marshal’s office has been getting questions about heaters to put on the patios of SNF. Read their response.
LEADINGAGE KANSAS NEWS
No Weekly Webinar This Week Because of Our Fall Conference
Here is the link to register for the October 16th Weekly Webinar.
Have a topic recommendation or an idea for a poll? Let us know.
2020 Virtual Scholarship Awards
You are invited to join us on October 13, 2020 at 4:00 PM for our annual Scholarship Awards Ceremony. We will be holding the ceremony via Zoom. Register for free here. Come and help us celebrate our winners. Here is a list of the 2020 recipients.
FEDERAL NEWS
CMS Announces New Repayment Terms for Medicare Loans Made to Providers During COVID-19
CMS announced a 1-year grace period for repayment of loans/advance payments received by providers. Now, payments are to begin one year from the issuance date of each provider or supplier’s accelerated or advance payment. The amended terms for payments issued under the Accelerated and Advance Payment (AAP) Program was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President as part of the Continuing Resolution. Read CMS’s Fact Sheet and FAQs.
Deadline Today: Take the Home Health and Hospice Survey
LeadingAge wants to hearfrom you about HHS’s planned distribution of rapid COVID-19 tests to home health and hospice organizations. HHS is requesting information about organizations to determine the proportion of tests you may be eligible for and shipping requirements. Please complete this three-minute survey now. The deadline to complete the survey is TODAY. If you have questions, please reach out to Mollie Gurian at mgurian@leadingage.org.
