STATE NEWS
Battelle Update
There are now less than 7 weeks remaining prior to the deadline (March 31, 2022.) Given Battelle’s onboarding process can take about 4 weeks, if you’re interested in continued routine testing support, please sign up as soon as possible to ensure coverage. As of this week, 143 facilities are registered with the program. KDHE has been in communication with the Midwest Coordination Center and now confirms that all LTC providers who seek to be registered for Battelle will be processed (whether or not they plan to use the system immediately.) Here is more information about the Battelle Testing Program. Here is the KDHE memo issued on February 7, 2022 with critical information regarding future lab testing availability and discontinuation of funding.
If your facility has secured an alternative testing option, please let KDADS know here.
FEDERAL NEWS
CDC Guidance on Antigen Testing in Long Term Care
CDC updated guidance today on the use of antigen testing in long-term care settings. Read the guidance here. Updates seek to streamline the guidance by linking to previously updated guidance on how testing is used in determining work restrictions and mitigating staffing shortages among healthcare personnel. The guidance also clarifies when and how to conduct confirmatory testing following the use of antigen tests in long term care.
COVID Nursing Home Visitation and Hospice
For hospice agencies and their staff serving nursing home residents receiving hospice care, CMS nursing home visitation guidance has been unevenly applied across the country leading to service disruption and patients not getting care they need. For an update on current guidance on visitation you can view an article here.
LEADINGAGE KANSAS NEWS
Join Us For Our Friday Webinars
Did you miss last Friday’s Advocacy Day? Here is the recording and here are the handouts. If you haven’t registered for future calls, you can do so here. Our special guest this week will be Katie Smith Sloan, CEO of LeadingAge national.
LEADINGAGE NEWS
Letter to HRSA on Reporting Issue With PRF Infection Control Funds
Last Friday, we sent a letter to Carole Johnson, Administrator of the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), the agency that administers the Provider Relief Fund, asking that HRSA quickly address a reporting concern that could lead to many nursing homes having to return much needed infection control dollars. LeadingAge wants to be sure that nursing homes can keep all the PRF dollars they have been paid. Specifically, we asked that providers be able to carry these dollars forward to a future reporting period where they can continue to be applied to ongoing infection control expenses. We will follow up with HRSA and keep you apprised of conversations.
Weekly Therapeutics Update From HHS
Here is the weekly update from the HHS Coordination Operations and Response Team on the distribution and administration of COVID-19 therapeutics. There has not been movement yet on a targeted set aside for long-term care settings and other places that work with LTC pharmacies, but we continue to advocate for that so residents and patients can more easily have access to oral therapeutics in a timely manner.
Coronavirus Update Calls for Week of February 21st
- No call on Monday February 21st. LeadingAge’s offices will be closed in observance of the President’s Day holiday.
- On Wednesday, February 23rd, at 2:30 PM CT, we will welcome back LeadingAge member Erica Thrash-Sall, Executive Director of the McFarlan Charitable Corporation. She is going to talk about her organization’s local advocacy efforts to strengthen their workforce and the importance of recruiting and retaining leaders of color in the aging services field.
If you haven’t registered for LeadingAge Update Calls, you can do so here.
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