As part of Southwestern Health’s commitment to providing you resources to meet the increased needs of your patients and to keep our community healthy, please read this information and share it with your colleagues and staff. We will continue to produce updates with the latest information and tools. Thank you for all you are doing to meet the challenges of COVID-19.
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Weekly COVID-19 Testing
Earlier recommendations for routine staff COVID-19 testing is now a requirement for participation in the Medicare and Medicaid program per a statement issued Tuesday, August 25th from the Trump Administration. CMS regulatory changes now require Skilled Nursing Facilities to test staff and offer COVID-19 testing to residents. It also requires, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), for SNFs to use point-of-care testing devices to report diagnostic test results.
“These new rules represent a dramatic acceleration of our efforts to track and control the spread of COVID-19,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma.
The new requirements will support federal and state efforts to identify early virus spread and help appropriately allocate PPE resources where needed. The frequency of staff testing will be based on the degree of community spread. To hold nursing homes accountable, the Administration is directing surveyors to inspect facilities for adherence to the new testing requirements.
The CMS announcement is also making changes to the way hospitals and labs are reporting their data.
The full CMS news announcement can be found here.
To view the new rule, click here.
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Hurricane Laura Support
CMS has announced efforts to provide comprehensive support to healthcare facilities to allow for the continuance of operations and access to care despite effects of Hurricane Laura. Waivers that were put in place for COVID-19 pandemic will be available to healthcare providers for hurricane relief. In addition, the CMS Dallas Survey & Enforcement Division, under the Survey Operations Group, will also allow other provider-specific requests for certain types of hospitals and other facilities in Louisiana and Texas. More information on the CMS waivers here.
The government expects all providers to have emergency preparedness programs based on an “all-hazards approach.” To assist in the understanding of emergency preparedness requirements, CMS hosted two webinars in 2018 which discussed topics regarding the final rule on things like: emergency power supply, 1135 waiver process, and best practices and lessons learned from previous disasters. Both webinars are available here.
FAQs, templates, and checklists for emergency preparedness can be found here, and here.
Additional information on the emergency preparedness requirements can be found here.
The full HHS Public Health Emergency Announcement for Hurricane Laura can be found here.
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COVID-19 Stakeholder Engagement Calls
CMS hosts recurring stakeholder engagement calls to share information to the healthcare community related to the agency’s response to COVID-19. Conference lines are limited so it is highly encouraged that providers join via audio webcast, which is compatible with either a computer or smartphone web browser.
The call for SNFs, Home Health, and Hospice occur twice a month on Tuesdays, starting at 2 pm Central Daylight Time (3 pm Eastern). The next call is Tuesday, September 8th. Check here for future calls.
Toll Free Attendance Dial-In:
833-614-0820
Access Passcode: 5097566
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Connecting Volunteers to Facilities
We've received feedback from some of our providers expressing a severe drop in volunteers in their communities due to fears around COVID-19. Mariel McKnight is one of our PA Intake Specialists and is currently in school as a pre-nursing student at the University of Texas at Arlington. She, along with her fellow nursing student peers, wanted to extend their desire to do some volunteer work in our facilities that are in need of help. “I’m eager to get some hands-on patient experience,” Mariel said, and is encouraging her peers to do the same.
As Mariel is a native El Pasoan, she also noted that “these connections are not limited to the DFW area; some of the students are currently living outside DFW” and would be willing to help in any of our partner’s sister facilities in other parts of Texas that might need volunteers. As an important part of our post-acute team, Mariel adds that “We are all in this together!”
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Social Determinants of Health
SWHR would like to make sure you are aware of our Social Determinants of Health program, a part of our Care Management Team. If you find one of our patients, who is about to discharge from your facility, is struggling with issues such as medication, transportation, and eviction notices, please reach out to our SDoH team so that we might help. Note: This program is not available to patients needing to be on service with Hospice.
For more information or to reach out to our SDoH team, please send referrals here:
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COVID-19 Saliva Test Now Being Used for Wider Testing
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently authorized the emergency use of "SalivaDirect", a new, inexpensive saliva test for COVID-19 testing. The test, which is much less invasive than the nasal swabs, has shown to yield similar test results. Unlike the nasal swab test, which requires labs to use chemical reagents (causing a national shortage), labs are able to run approximately 90 samples in less than 3 hours.
FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said in a statement, “Providing this type of flexibility for processing saliva samples to test for COVID-19 infection is groundbreaking in terms of efficiency and avoiding shortages of crucial test components like reagents.”
Up to this point, testing has been a very expensive endeavor, both for facilities and for the individual. With the new SalivaDirect option, testing for the disease will become cheaper and easier to access. Read the full statement from the FDA here. Questions? 1-888-INFO-FDA
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Skilled Nursing Facilities Accepting COVID-19 Patients
Below is a list of current quality skilled nursing facilities that are accepting new positive patients. *Please note, this list is subject to change*
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Benbrook Nursing and Rehab (Benbrook) 817-528-5217
Carlyle at Stonebridge Park (Southlake) 817-431-5778
Carrara (Plano) 469-969-0740
Christian Care Center (Mesquite) 972-918-5274
Corinth Rehabilitation Suites on the Parkway 940-270-3400
Edgewood Rehabilitation & Care Center (Mesquite) 972-288-8800
Keller Oaks (Keller) 817-577-9999
Mansfield Nursing and Rehab 940-297-1367
Marine Creek (Ft. Worth) 817-624-6164
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Presbyterian Village North (Dallas) 214-355-9643
Terrell Healthcare 972-563-7668
The Healthcare Resort of Plano 972-379-0000
The Village at Richardson 972-231-8833
Walnut Place (Dallas) 214-380-9615
Wellington Oaks (Ft. Worth) 940-297-1360
West Side Campus of Care (White Settlement) 817-246-4995
Williamsburg Village (Desoto) 972-572-6200
Willow Park (Weatherford) 817-757-1200
Windsor Gardens (Lancaster) 972-228-8029
Villages of Lake Highlands (Dallas) 214-342-7105
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To ensure you continue to receive these communications to your inbox, rather than spam or junk folders, please add swhrnews@southwesternhealth.org to your email contacts. For additional information contact:
Mike Beaty, Network Engagement Specialist
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