LEADINGAGE KANSAS NEWS
Don’t Miss the Virtual Advocacy Day During our Friday Webinar
Get the insider scoop with what is going on under the dome in Topeka. Our guests will be:
- Senator Kristen O’Shea
- Kari Bruffett with KHI
- Sean Miller with Capitol Strategies
In addition, we will provide tips and recommendations to help you leverage your voice with Legislators. If you aren’t already registered for our Friday webinars, please do so here.
STATE NEWS
Kansas COVID-19 Cluster Summary
As of February 16th, there are 29 long-term care facilities with clusters and 11 are LeadingAge Kansas Members.
Statewide Active COVID-19 Clusters (small decrease from last week)
- Clusters: 341
- Cases: 9,000
- Hospitalizations: 96
Kansas COVID-19: Case Rates
- Cases: 752,974
- Total Case Rate Per 1,000: 258.46
- Daily Cases Diagnosed: 382
Long-Term Care Facilities with Active Cluster Case Information
- Clusters: 214
- Cases: 4,847
- Hospitalizations: 82
Source: https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas
FEDERAL NEWS
HRSA to Hold Feb 17th Technical Assistance Session on Reporting on Nursing Home Infection Control Provider Relief
The session will be held at 2:00 PM CT on Thursday, February 17th. According to HRSA, the technical assistance session will cover: NHIC allowable expenses, how to use the PRF Reporting Portal to report on NHIC payments, and what resources are available to assist with reporting in RP2. We anticipate much of the content will be like the issues covered in the webinar LeadingAge hosted with HRSA on February 2nd.
Members can Register here for the free event. Reminder that second period reports are due March 31st at 11:59 PM ET for all providers who received PRF dollars between June 1 and December 31, 2020.
Waning 2-Dose and 3-Dose Effectiveness of mRNA Vaccines Against COVID-19 Hospital Departments
CDC released an MMWR on the waning 2-dose and 3-dose effectiveness of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19-associated emergency department and urgent care encounters and hospitalizations among adults during periods of Delta and Omicron variant predominance – VISION Network, in 10 states, from August 2021 to January 2022, as an early release. Protection against COVID-19 after 2 doses of mRNA vaccine wanes, but little is known about durability of protection after 3 doses. Vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-19–associated emergency department/urgent care (ED/UC) visits and hospitalizations was higher after the third dose than after the second dose but waned with time since vaccination. During the Omicron-predominant period, VE against COVID-19–associated ED/UC visits and hospitalizations was 87% and 91%, respectively, during the 2 months after a third dose and decreased to 66% and 78% by the fourth month after a third dose. Protection against hospitalizations exceeded that against ED/UC visits. All eligible persons should remain up to date with recommended COVID-19 vaccinations to best protect against COVID-19–associated hospitalizations and ED/UC visits.
VACCINE NEWS
CMS Vaccine Mandate and Contractors
CMS has previously stated that providers are not expected to maintain on-site physical copies of proof of vaccination or exemption for contractors. We have heard of many providers utilizing attestation forms to verify the vaccination status of contracted employees. CMS clarified on our small call today that, if used, an attestation must be specific. A blanket attestation will not be sufficient.
- Acceptable attestations: “Staff X is fully vaccinated against COVID-19.” “Staff Y has been granted an exemption that meets the requirements of the rule.”
- Unacceptable attestations: “Contracting organization X will send to provider organization Y only staff who are either fully vaccinated or who have been granted an exemption that meets requirements of the rule.”
Remember that even with an acceptable attestation, all providers must be able to obtain and submit to surveyors proof of vaccination status upon request.
Kansas COVID-19 Vaccination Overview as of 2/16/2022
- 4,161,713 Total Doses Reported as Administered
– First Dose: 1,930,179
– Second Dose: 1,551,469
– Third Dose: 680,066 - 5,330,850 Total Doses Distributed
– State Distributed: 2,989,400 - 61.7% of Kansans Vaccinated with One Dose
- 53.3% of Kansas Completed COVID-19 Vaccine Series
Source: https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/158/Data
RESOURCES
Nursing Home Surveyor Resources
This week marks phase 1 compliance with the CMS vaccine mandate for half of the country with Texas preparing for phase 1 next week and the other half of the country preparing for phase 2 the following week. As a reminder, surveyor resources including the entrance conference worksheet and staff matrix are available here in the downloads section. Look for the January 2022 links.
COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review
On Friday, CDC released their weekly review from the COVID Data Tracker. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in January 2022 were the highest since the beginning of the pandemic, fueled by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. As of February 10, 2022, Omicron is still the predominant variant across the country.
THANK YOU TO OUR SILVER PARNTER
