VACCINE NEWS
Second Booster Approved
The FDA approved a second COVID-19 booster dose for adults over age 50 and immunocompromised individuals on March 29, 2022. Moving quickly, the CDC recommended the second booster on the same day. Read the FDA press release here and the CDC press release here. Nursing home requirements are largely unaffected by the new recommendation. Read Second Booster Not Required for Compliance for more.
New NHSN Data Forms
NHSN has released new forms for tracking and reporting resident and staff COVID-19 vaccinations. These “event-level” forms are available in the NHSN module and will eventually replace the downloadable Excel spreadsheet Data Tracking Worksheets. Access the training materials here to learn how to use the forms, including how to do a one-time export of data from the excel spreadsheets to begin using the new forms. Of note, the new forms allow for specification of religious exemptions under the declination section of reporting. While the new forms are not required, the excel spreadsheets will be retired in May 2022. We will let you know when the webinar is posted on the CDC website to go with the slides.
LEADINGAGE KANSAS NEWS
We Look Forward to Joining You for Our Weekly Webinar this Friday at 10 AM
Get the latest on COVID, CMS, the Legislature and more each Friday at 10 AM. If you haven’t registered for future calls, you can do so here.
If you would like to listen to updates you have missed, visit this page.
LEADINGAGE NATIONAL NEWS
Meeting with CMS Administrator on Nursing Home Quality Initiative
LeadingAge National leaders Katie Sloan, Janine Finck-Boyle and Ruth Ratz, along with four leaders of LeadingAge nursing home communities, met with CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Deputy Administrator Jonathan Blum, and several additional CMS staff yesterday to discuss the Nursing Home Quality Initiative. Topics included workforce realities and challenges, quality, inadequate Medicaid reimbursement, and survey concerns. Jon Blum said CMS is thinking about a risk-based approach to determine how to allocate survey resources. We will provide additional details in an article tomorrow.
National Coronavirus Update Calls Resume Next Week
- Monday, April 4th, 2:30 PM Central
Kelly Papa, President and CEO of LeadingAge member Duncaster to talk about the importance of being tender and tough and the 4 “C”s of leadership that she utilizes at her community to recruit and retain new staff. On - Wednesday, April 6th, 2:30 PM Central
David Grabowski will speak about the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine much-awaited recommendations and report on nursing home quality, regulation and financing. He served on the Committee that wrote the report and developed the recommendations.
If you haven’t registered for LeadingAge Update Calls, you can do so here. You can also find previous call recordings here.
