KHCA/KCAL is committed to providing our members with important updates. Below is a list of the most recent information. Please visit our website for a list of complete updates. www.khca.org/covid-19-resources
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CMS Updated Nursing Home Visitation Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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Legislative Update
Click here to read Monday's Legislative Update from Linda MowBray, President/CEO.
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Fines, fines, fines… we are not fine
Record instances and dollar amounts of fines to skilled nursing facilities just made public last month highlight the tense regulatory environment operators are managing through.
Despite federal “provider relief” funds being distributed, some of that relief is being negated in the form of increased fines removing resources from resident care. Skilled nursing fine data published last month for the last three survey cycles contained more than 10,000 new fines totaling over $187 million dollars for over 1,980 newly fined providers (compared to data published in the prior month). READ MORE
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Biden-Harris Administration Requires Insurance Companies and Group Health Plans to Cover the Cost of At-Home COVID-19 Tests, Increasing Access to Free Tests
As part of its ongoing efforts across many channels to expand Americans’ access to free testing, the Biden-Harris Administration is requiring insurance companies and group health plans to cover the cost of over-the-counter, at-home COVID-19 tests, so people with private health coverage can get them for free starting January 15th. The new coverage requirement means that most consumers with private health coverage can go online or to a pharmacy or store, buy a test, and either get it paid for up front by their health plan, or get reimbursed for the cost by submitting a claim to their plan. This requirement incentivizes insurers to cover these costs up front and ensures individuals do not need an order from their health care provider to access these tests for free. READ MORE
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CMS Adds Staffing Measures to Five Star
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted QSO memo 22-08-NH last week indicating that it will begin posting staffing turnover and weekend staffing levels for each nursing home on the Medicare.gov Care Compare website in January and add the measures to staffing domain of Five Star Rating system in July 2022.
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Weekend Staffing: The level of total nurse (RN, LPN & CNA) and registered nurse (RN) staffing on weekends provided by each nursing home over a quarter. This will be reported as average hours worked per resident per day on weekends.
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Staff Turnover:
- The percent of RN staff that left the facility over the last year.
- The percent of total nurse staff that have left the facility over the last year.
- The number of administrators that have left the facility over the last year.
The technical specifications for weekend staffing and staff turnover measures will be included in the Five Star Rating System Technical Users’ Guide on January 14, 2022.
Facilities must link employee identifiers to ensure their turnover measures are accurate. Instructions and templates for linking employee identifiers are provided in the memo.
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Parkinson Asks HHS To Extend COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
McKnight’s Long-Term Care News (1/9, Lasek) reports American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living president and CEO Mark Parkinson asked HHS Secretary Becerra to "extend the COVID-19 public health emergency" set to expire on January 16. In a letter to the agency last week, Parkinson "emphasized the need to prioritize the industry for access to COVID-19 testing and treatments," and "proposed the establishment of a separate process for long-term care pharmacies to order treatments directly." He warned, "With the Omicron variant causing the largest surge of COVID-19 cases across the country ever, now is not the time to let crucial supports and flexibilities necessary to combat the virus end."
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8 Week Webinar Series: Winning the Fall Prevention Battle
This 8-week series running February-March 2022 guides the interdisciplinary team through the elements of an effective falls prevention program. Sessions focus on assessment strategies that guide targeted risk-based interventions, responding to a fall event, and promoting a fall prevention environment. Presented by a team of nurse and therapist experts, this series aims to provide the insights and tools needed to implement improved falls prevention programs in the SNF/LTC/AL setting.
Register for the whole series by February 1 and receive a 20% discount.
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The Governors new Executive Order (E.O. 22-02) that was issued yesterday 1/6/2022 allows for use of Temporary Nurse Aides once again
Governor Kelly said. “This disaster declaration provides a 15-day solution to give our front-line health care workers the support they need as they battle this COVID-19 surge. This action is temporary until the legislature returns, at which I time I will work with them to pass legislation to extend my executive orders through the month of March.”
The KHCA/KCAL Lobbying team is also working hard to get this TNA program extended through legislative action.
The link to access the FREE Temporary Nurse Aide course can be accessed here.
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Clinical Update from KHCA Consultant Linda Farrar
As we anxiously await the Supreme Court decision on vaccine mandates, let’s talk quickly about survey issues. On several occasions now, F641 Accuracy of Assessments has been tagged based on considering antiplatelet medication such as Plavix, Aspirin, Effient, Brinlinta, Persantine as anticoagulants on the MDS. Here is the chart from the RAI Manual. Please take a moment to remind your MDS Coordinator about appropriate coding of these medications: READ MORE
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Despite outsider-driven COVID outbreaks, providers face continued demand for risky visits
Infectious disease specialist Ronald G. Nahass was called into an ailing New Jersey nursing home in late November, not long after federal regulators reversed course and allowed broad visitor access.
What he saw then has Nahass and many other healthcare providers clamoring for more ways to protect patients from the friends and loved ones who are increasingly reintroducing COVID into their buildings — even as federal officials Thursday strongly emphasized that the doors will be staying open. READ MORE
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Leadership for Charge Nurses
1/14/2022
8:30am-5:00pm
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This 12-month webinar series emphasizes skill building for the Post-Acute Care Infection Preventionist with a focus on establishing and managing an effective IPC program in the SNF/LTC/AL setting.
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Webinar: The Proficient Infection Preventionist Series: Roles & Responsibilities of the Capable Infection Preventionist
1/18/2022
1:30pm-2:30pm
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RAC-CT Certification Virtual Workshop
1/19 - 1/28/22
8:20am – 12:30pm daily
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Virtual Adult Care Home Operators Course
2/9-2/22/2022
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Kansas Health Care Association and the Kansas Center for Assisted Living
1100 SW Gage Blvd. | PO Box 4770 | Topeka, KS 66604
PH: 785-267-6003 FAX: 785-267-0833
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