Sent to all dialysis facility leadership and disaster contacts in NY State with valid email addresses in CROWNWeb, and all Emergency partners and stakeholders in the Network Service Area.
Steps Healthcare Facilities Can Take Now to Prepare for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

The true impact of a COVID-19 outbreak in a U.S. community cannot be predicted; however, all healthcare facilities can take steps now to prepare for such an outbreak and protect both their patients and staff.

Be Prepared:
  • Stay informed about the local COVID-19 situation. Know where to turn for reliable, up-to-date information in your local community. Monitor the CDC COVID-19 website and your local health department website for the latest information.
  • Develop, or review, your facility's emergency plan. A COVID-19 outbreak in your community could lead to staff absenteeism. Prepare alternative staffing plans to ensure that your facility's staff are available when necessary.
  • Establish relationships with key healthcare and public health partners in your community. Make sure you know about healthcare and public health emergency planning and response activities in your community. Learn about plans to manage patients, accept transfers, and share supplies. Review any memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with affiliates, your healthcare coalition, and other partners to provide support or assistance during emergencies.
  • Create an emergency contact list. Develop and continuously update emergency contact lists for key partners and ensure the lists are accessible in key locations in your facility. For example, know how to reach your local or state health department in an emergency.

Communicate with Staff and Patients:
  • Communicate about COVID-19 with your staff. Share information about what is currently known about COVID-19, the potential for surge, and your facility's preparedness plans.
  • Communicate about COVID-19 with your patients. Provide updates about changes to your policies regarding appointments, providing non-urgent patient care by telephone, and visitors. Consider using your facility's website or social media page to share updates.

Protect Your Workforce:
  • Screen patients and visitors for symptoms of acute respiratory illness (e.g. fever, cough, difficulty breathing) before entering your healthcare facility. Keep up-to-date on the recommendations for preventing spread of COVID-19 on CDC's website.
  • Ensure proper use of personal protection equipment (PPE). Healthcare personnel who come in close contact with confirmed or possible patients with COVID-19 should wear the appropriate personal protective equipment.
  • Conduct an inventory of available PPE. Consider conducting an inventory of available PPE supplies. Explore strategies to optimize PPE supplies.

Protect Your Patients:
  • Stay up-to-date on the best ways to manage patients with COVID-19.
  • Separate patients with respiratory symptoms so they are not waiting among other patients seeking care. Identify a separate, well-ventilated space that allows waiting patients and visitors to be separated.
  • Consider other strategies to prevent patients who can be cared for at home from coming to your facility potentially exposing themselves or others to germs by:
  • Using your telephone system to deliver messages to incoming callers about when to seek medical care at your facility, when to seek emergency care, and where to go for information about caring for a person with COVID-19 at home.
  • Adjusting your hours of operation to include telephone triage and follow-up of patients during a community outbreak.
  • Leveraging telemedicine technologies and self-assessment tools.
Mandatory Reporting of COVID-19 Impact on Dialysis Facilities
(Persons in under investigation (PUI) and Confirmed Cases)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are requiring through the Kidney Emergency Response Coalition (KCER) that the ERSD Networks track and report daily any COVID-19 impact in dialysis facilities.

At this time, you DO NOT need to report if you have had NO IMPACT.

If you have any patients or staff that are being tested (PUI) or that are unable to access the dialysis facility due to voluntary 14 day isolation, or confirmed COVID-19. Please submit this brief online reporting form:
https://redcap.ipro.org/surveys/?s=XAJLFDJPT8

New York State
Health Commerce System
(NYSHCS)
New York State dialysis providers should be receiving updates from the DOH via the  Health Commerce System . If your facility does not already have an active HC account (for NYPORTS) please see this website for instructions on creating an account: https://www.health.ny.gov/prevention/immunization/information_system/providers/hpn_account_instructions.htm
IPRO ESRD Network of New York
1979 Marcus Ave, Suite 105 Lake Success, NY 10042
Phone:  516-209-5578  · Fax:  516-326-8929
IPRO End-Stage Renal Disease Network of New York, the ESRD Organization for New York, prepared this material under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. CMS Contract Number: HHSM-500-2016-00020C.