LEADINGAGE NATIONAL NEWS
Response to White House Nursing Home Reform Statement
Since last week’s release of the White House statement on improving safety and quality of care in the nation’s nursing homes, LeadingAge has been working behind the scenes and in public to stand up for our nonprofit and mission-driven nursing home members. We are sending a letter to President Biden and members of his Administration to share both our disappointment in their recent rhetoric and a roadmap for next steps we can take together. LeadingAge is also pursuing action with the media and the public. President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan has already issued two statements, on the White House announcement and State of the Union. We’ll share additional details in an upcoming email to members—watch your inbox.
LeadingAge Coronavirus Calls
On Monday, March 14th, 2:30 PM CT– Lana Peck, Senior Principal at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care will be featured. She will discuss the latest data from the NIC WAVE study of trends in senior living. She will offer insights on workforce and occupancy challenges and guidance on how LeadingAge members can prepare for growth this year. There will also be updates on other policy areas and opportunity to chat in questions. If you haven’t registered for LeadingAge Update Calls, you can do so here.
If you missed this week’s guest, a Summary of this week’s interview with Dr. Nimale Stone from CDC can be found here.
STATE NEWS
Status of KDADS Surveying on F-888
KDADS informed CMS that they will not be surveying nursing homes on the F888 tag (staff vaccination mandate) and are waiting on an official response from CMS.
State to Continue Free Testing Through May 15th
KDHE/KDADS has announced an extension of the availability of state-funded regional labs for COVID 19 testing through May 15th. Read the letter. Battelle will still be offered as a free alternative for testing after May 15th. Providers are still highly encouraged to sign up for free Battelle testing well in advance of May 15th – as an alternative to the KDHE regional lab testing, or as a back-up to other arrangements they have made for paid testing through other labs. If your community has secured an alternative testing option, please let KDADS know here.
Weekly KDHE COVID-19 Vaccine Newsletter
Check out the weekly Newsletter from KDHE over COVID-19 Vaccines.
FEDERAL NEWS
CMS Updates Testing Guidance for Nursing Homes
CMS released updated guidance on nursing home testing requirements. Access the updated guidance here. Updates largely focus on the adoption of CDC vaccination status language “up to date / not up to date.” Of course, this change in language has implications for operations in that nursing homes must now include all staff who are not up to date with COVID-19 vaccination in routine staff screening testing according to community transmission rates. The new guidance also clarifies that nursing homes should be testing all staff or residents, regardless of vaccination status, who have been identified as a close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19. The guidance further recommends the use of an antigen test as opposed to a nucleic-acid amplification test when opting to test individuals who have tested positive for COVID in the past 90 days. These updates are all consistent with existing CDC recommendations for healthcare settings and nursing homes.
CMS Updates Visitation Guidance for Nursing Homes
CMS released updated guidance and associated FAQs on nursing home visitation. Access the updated guidance here. Updates largely focus on the adoption of CDC vaccination status language “up to date / not up to date.” The language change impacts operational considerations such as quarantine for residents following close contact and testing / quarantine following readmission to the nursing home. The guidance also explicitly states that visitors to nursing homes must meet resident criteria for discontinuation of transmission-based precautions (isolation and quarantine). While this message has previously been shared many times, this is the first time CMS has put it in writing. These updates are all consistent with existing CDC recommendations for healthcare settings and nursing homes.
OSHA 3-Month COVID-19 Focused Inspection Initiative in Healthcare
OSHA’s Memorandum provides instructions and guidance to Federal OSHA Area Offices for a highly focused, 3-month long inspection initiative directed at hospitals and skilled nursing care facilities that treat or handle COVID-19 patients. Facilities may be selected for inspections under this initiative if they meet one of the following criteria:
- Follow-up inspection of any prior OSHA inspection where a COVID-19-related citation or hazard alert letter (HAL) was issued;
- Follow-up or monitoring inspections for randomly selected closed COVID-19 unprogrammed activity (UPA), to include COVID-19 complaints and Rapid Response Investigations (RRIs); or
- Monitoring inspections for randomly selected, remote-only COVID-19 inspections where COVID-19-related citations were previously issued.
CMS National Nursing Homes Stakeholder Call
CMS held a national nursing homes stakeholder call this afternoon. The White House initiative to improve nursing homes was reviewed. Read the Fact Sheet here. CMS did not divulge any additional information, other than to clarify that the 21 initiatives contained in the plan include short-term, mid-range, and long-term goals. CMS states that currently, the focus is on identifying the initiatives on which CMS can take swift action. The only actual timeline identified was restating the expectation to undertake a study to determine that staffing required for safer care with minimum staffing standards to be identified within one year. CMS emphasized their intentions to move forward in a deliberate manner that provides meaningful opportunities for stakeholder engagement and feedback to “get it right.” A recording of this stakeholder call will be posted here.
LEADINGAGE KANSAS NEWS
Did You Miss Our Weekly Webinar? Listen to it Here
Listen to the call. Download the handouts.
Get the latest on COVID, CMS, the Legislature and more each Friday at 10 AM. See you then. If you haven’t registered for future calls, you can do so here.
RESOURCES
New Ad Council Tools: COVID Vaccine Hesitancy Among Direct Care Professionals
Even as this most recent wave of COVID-19 wanes, providers know how important it is to ensure that caregiving professionals are fully vaccinated and boosted. LeadingAge leveraged the Ad Council’s “It’s Up to You” campaign to develop materials especially for Black and Hispanic direct care professionals. These toolkits include messaging guidelines and communications tips sheets, as well as social media graphics, handouts, and posters, and are FREE to LeadingAge members:
In addition to providing these materials to members, this project boosted the visibility of caring professionals (and LeadingAge) by including them in a high-profile national Ad Council campaign for Black and Hispanic communities.
Having Difficulty Finding PPE, Testing or other Supplies?
Should your community have challenges finding any product in high demand, please reach out to ann@leadingagekansas.org.
McKesson, Value First’s preferred distribution partner, tells us that Quidel rapid antigen test are still on allocation. Please allow for a minimum three week backorder delay. The FlowFlex rapid test is readily available by the case of 300. They continue to anticipate availability challenges on plastic and paper products. McKesson has seen a recent reduction in cost for gloves so please reach out! Please share with your McKesson representative any additional needs you might have. Scott Fleet Phone (816) 305-7177) or Email scott.fleet@mckesson.com.
THANK YOU TO OUR GOLD PARTNER
