Coronavirus Update #25
CDC Call Today, Baker Donelson Webinar, Additional Reminders
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CDC Call on PPE Strategies
CDC will host a Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA) call that will focus on PPE optimization strategies. The call will take place
TODAY, Wednesday, March 25, 2020, from 2:00–3:00
p.m. (Eastern Time). Presenters will discuss strategies for healthcare facilities to optimize PPE supplies such as eye protection, isolation gowns, facemasks, and N95 respirators. Advanced registration is not required. Due to the high demand, we encourage participants to also consider viewing the call on
Facebook Live
.
CDC Call on PPE Strategies
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
2:00 - 3:00 PM EST
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Coronavirus: Privacy, Security and Telehealth for Long Term Care Providers - Webinar Presented by Baker Donelson
There is no question that COVID-19 has brought unprecedented change to our world. The temporary relaxation of HIPAA's requirements is one of many examples of the government's efforts to address the public's health care needs during this crisis. Over the last month, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued temporary waivers and associated guidance regarding HIPAA and telehealth services rendered during the public health emergency. Additionally, with increased remote work, there is increased risk of employees accessing data through unsecured and unsafe Wi-Fi networks, using personal devices to perform work, and not following general security protocols established by the company.
During this webinar, the presenters will discuss privacy and security obligations, telehealth options, and related day-to-day operational issues arising in connection with the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and OCR COVID-19 waivers.
Tuesday, March 31
1:00 – 2:00 p.m. CT
2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET
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Reminder: SNF Bed Capacity Inventory Survey
- As we continue to advise, Maryland post-acute providers can accept hard to place non-Covid-19 hospital transfers now in order to help free-up acute care in hospitals for COVID-19 patients.
- Hard to place patients include those who have high drug costs that are paid for in hospitals, but not in SNFs. We will continue to work with AHCA/NCAL, with our Congressional Delegation, and with the Hogan team for CMS regulatory and financial relief on this front.
- No decisions yet. But in advance of the acute care surge associated with COVID-19, it is important that we inventory SNF capacity to take non-COVID-19 med/surg patients to free-up acute care space.
- For the future, plan now: we strongly urge SNFs to begin now creating separate wings, units, or floors by moving current residents to handle future full surge admissions from the hospitals and keep current residents separate, if possible.
Please complete this
SNF bed capacity survey
ASAP. Note that this survey should be completed
once per center
; please make sure the appropriate person on your team completes the survey.
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CMS Prioritization of Survey Activities
Earlier this week, CMS released
guidance
prioritizing and suspending most federal and state survey agency (SSA) surveys, and delaying revisit surveys, for the next three weeks beginning on March 20, 2020, for all nursing homes. For non-IJ related onsite surveys that are currently in process, survey teams are instructed to end the survey and exit the facility.
State and federal surveyors should not enter the building, for any type of survey, if they are unable to meet the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) expectations outlined by the latest CDC guidance. They may instead obtain necessary information remotely, to the extent possible.
Federal and state surveyors will conduct targeted infection control surveys of providers identified together with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). They will use this
survey tool
to review infection prevention and control practices.
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CMS Delay of October 1, 2020 MDS Update
As the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) previously
announced,
they are delaying the Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 v1.18.1 release, which had been scheduled for October 1, 2020. The MDS item sets are used by Nursing Home and Swing Bed providers to collect and submit patient data to CMS. This MDS data informs payment, quality, and the survey process.
The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) has shared that since implementation of the MDS changes that remove Section G are being delayed, Maryland does not need to require providers to submit the Optional State Assessment (OSA) effective October 1, 2020 in order to maintain the RUG-IV payment system.
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Transfers from SNFs to the Hospital
AHCA/NCAL has updated our
interim guidance
regarding accepting hospital discharges during COVID-19 pandemic to include assisted living communities. It is important to note that the decision-making and guidance will likely change as the prevalence of COVID-19 varies in communities and hospital surge increases in the community.
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MEMA - Request for Resources
The MEMA Resource Section will input the information contained in these emails into a WebEOC request (on the requestor's behalf), and task that request to the appropriate fulfilling body. MEMA will have a staffer solely dedicated to monitoring the email account and gathering any necessary data from the requester.
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Did you miss HFAM's previous alerts?
Visit our
website
to view all previous HFAM alerts, as well as guidance
from our federal and state partners.
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Additional Resources and Guidance
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Thank you.
We cannot thank you enough for the dedication and diligence in doing all that you can for the residents in your communities. HFAM continues to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic with our state and national partners and will do all we can to support you during this time.
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