Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has updated this toolkit – Version 12 is now available and it’s 192 pages in length.  This toolkit includes recent information and guidance on vaccinations to prevent infection with influenza virus, pneumococcus, and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. CMS has posted COVID-19 Nursing Home…… Continue reading Weekly COVID-19 Data, Version 12 Toolkit and Other COVID-19 Updates

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Last week, CMS posted county positivity rates dated October 13, 2020.  CMS has just posted updated county positivity rates dated October 19, 2020 that reflect data from October 1-October 14.  This updated posting is found here.                                       

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS released data last week showing that 21% of Medicare beneficiaries report forgoing non-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) care due to the pandemic, and nearly all – 98% – of beneficiaries have taken preventative measures to keep themselves safe from the virus. According to the survey, the…… Continue reading CMS Survey Data Illustrates Impact of COVID-19 on Medicare Beneficiaries’ Daily Life/Experiences

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is releasing a new pathway through their National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) LTCF COVID-19 Module that will allow providers to report the results of their Point of Care (POC) COVID-19 testing. Providers who are performing POC COVID-19 testing under their…… Continue reading Point of Care Laboratory Reporting Pathway in NHSN

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), recently announced that we will begin providing nursing homes with a Point of Care (POC) rapid response testing instrument to bolster each facility’s ability to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The data collected through…… Continue reading Supporting COVID-19 Testing

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Late in the day Friday, October 16, 2020, I quickly blogged on this newly announced program.  Registration for this program begins today and runs for 2 weeks.  This program will provide the COVID-19 vaccine (when it’s available) to nursing home residents as well as those individuals…… Continue reading More Info on Pharmacy Partnership Program for LTC

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare On October 2, 2020, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) renewed the declaration of the COVID-19 national public health emergency (PHE), and it will now extend through at least January 20, 2021 (unless the Secretary renews the PHE again). This means that most of…… Continue reading Updated: 3-Day Stay and Benefit Period COVID-19 Waiver Guidance Fact Sheet

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Yes, there’s a week for this and it couldn’t be timelier this year and this week (every week actually). COVID-19 has shown the world what we’ve always known—infection preventionists (IPs) are essential to keeping the world safe. In addition to all the usual suspects (healthcare-associated infections,…… Continue reading International Infection Prevention Week: October 18 – 24, 2020

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Late afternoon Friday, October 16, 2020, NHSN/CDC sent the following letter to NHSN LTCF Users: Dear NHSN Long-term Care Facility Users, Immunization with a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is a critical component of our Nation’s strategy to reduce COVID-19 related illness, hospitalizations, and deaths. Early…… Continue reading Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has posted updated COVID-19 data for the week ending October 4, 2020. County positivity rates dated October 13, 2020 are also available.  This is data from September 24-October 7, 2020.  (Remember you can also access past county activity rates in the archives.)  Facilities should monitor…… Continue reading CMS Posts Updated COVID-19 in NH Data + County Positivity Rates