Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare AHCA/NCAL released an updated report on Monday, August 17, 2020.  The report comes in the format of 7 PowerPoint slides.  It shows that COVID-related deaths in nursing homes had declined significantly but now are increasing – 69% of such deaths in nursing homes are coming from…… Continue reading NH Spike in New COVID Cases Due to Community Spread in Sun Belt States

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare I’ve chosen again to put together a digest of what’s happening related to COVID-19 the past few days.  Each item is denoted with a bullet and I’ve bolded the state or title that applies to the material you’ll want to check out. The state of New…… Continue reading COVID-19 Updates/Resources/Upcoming Webinars

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Late in the day Monday, August 17, 2020, CMS posted this Press Release.  The full title is: CMS Announces Resumption of Routine Inspections of All Provider and Supplies, Issues Updated Enforcement Guidance to States and Posts Toolkit to Assist Nursing Homes; subtitle: Guidance outlines recommendations to…… Continue reading CMS Announcements: Resumption of Routine Inspections and Updated Guidance to States

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The new CMS-CDC Fundamentals of COVID-19 Prevention for Nursing Home Management training series will include 13 topics that your nursing home partners must know to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. These trainings will be housed on QIOProgram.org for 24/7 access. New, pre-recorded trainings will be released every…… Continue reading CMS-CDC Fundamentals of COVID-19 Prevention for Nursing Home Management Training Series

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare On Friday, August 14, 2020 the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) announced its first list of medical supplies and devices that are facing a shortage.  This list includes device shortage as well as device discontinuation.   The device shortage list includes these categories: PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)Testing…… Continue reading Medical Device Shortages During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has posted the latest edition of Toolkit on State Actions to Mitigate COVID-19 Prevalence in Nursing Homes – Version 7.   This version has 160 pages. As with the other versions, here are the Disclaimer (initial 4 paragraphs) and Acknowledgement statements (last paragraph): This document is…… Continue reading CMS Posts Version 7 – Toolkit on State Actions to Mitigate COVID-19 Prevalence in Nursing Homes

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare This AHCA/NCAL Survey with the same title as the blog was released about the same time on Friday, August 14, 2020 as the CMS Press Release on CMS Fines.  Both were heart-stopping and extremely frightening.  I’ve posted on the CMS Fines press release separately so check…… Continue reading Nursing Homes Incurring Significant Costs and Financial Hardship in Response to COVID-19

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Those words were the headlines of a CMS Press Release issued the afternoon of August 14, 2020.  The subheading reads: CMS Enforcement Action Against Nursing Homes Triples compared to last year. Below is a significant excerpt from that Press Release (bolding added by me): Under the…… Continue reading More Than $15 Million in Fines to Nursing Homes During COVID-19 Pandemic

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare COVID-19 Nursing Home Data has been updated again.  Currently on display is data for week ending August 2, 2020. Iowa Guidance on Phased Easing of Restrictions for Long-Term Care Facilities was most recently updated on August 10, 2020.  Prior to that, the guidance carried an update…… Continue reading COVID-19 information/Resource Updates … Week of August 10, 2020

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare This is a great infographic to share with your staff as well as residents, families – your community at large.  It gives clear, concise guidance on what to do/not do after a COVID-19 test and before the results are received.  This is the back side: