Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The title of this blog is the same as the title of an article in today’s Kaiser Family Foundation Policy Watch. “The CDC’s latest update reporting data on nursing home deaths as of January 30th pushes the reported number of deaths over this bleak milestone. This finding comes at…… Continue reading Over 200,000 Residents and Staff in Long-Term Care Facilities Have Died From COVID-19

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare OSHA is withdrawing the November 5, 2021, emergency temporary standard (ETS) which was issued to protect unvaccinated employees of large employers (100 or more employees) from the risk of contracting COVID-19 by strongly encouraging vaccination. The announcement came in the form of publication in the Federal…… Continue reading OSHA Withdraws ETS 2021 Issued to Protect Large Employers from COVID-19 Working Towards a Permanent Standard

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare On January 31, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a second COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine; the approved vaccine will be marketed as Spikevax for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older. …… Continue reading FDA Takes Key Action by Approving Second COVID-19 Vaccine

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The CDC National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Vaccination Unit is providing a webinar on Thursday, February 3rd and on Tuesday, February 8th at 2:00 PM Eastern Time to review recent changes to the weekly COVID-19 vaccination data modules and guidance, and to provide a refresher training…… Continue reading REFRESHER NHSN TRAINING: Reporting Weekly Cumulative COVID-19 Vaccination Data and Review of Recent Changes and Updates

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has posted COVID-19 nursing home data for the week ending January 16, 2022. Comparing the January 16th data to the January 9th data shows these differences: • Resident vaccination rate decreased 0.1% from previous week • Staff vaccination increased 0.5% from previous week• Resident confirmed cases increased 53,884• Staff confirmed…… Continue reading Current CMS, NHSN and CDC Nursing Home COVID-19 Data Available

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS posted QSO-22-10-ALL (3 pages) with the same title as this blog on Tuesday, January 25, 2022. The key points of this Memorandum are: Surveyors who are not  fully  vaccinated (unless  vaccination is medically contraindicated or the individual is legally entitled to a reasonable accommodation under…… Continue reading Vaccination Expectations for Surveyors Performing Federal Oversight

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS posted an updatedtimeline on January 20, 2022 following the issuance of QSO-22-11-ALL.  As a result, the state of Texas is now included on the infographic timeline: And no mention of the Texas injunction: Additionally, CMS posted an updated External FAQ: CMS Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care…… Continue reading CMS COVID-19 HC Staff Vaccination Implementation Timeline Infographic Updated FAQ Document Updated Also

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has updated the two datasets for LTC Staff Vaccination as of January 11, 2022, with the public release on January 20, 2022: COVID-19 Vaccination Rates – State and National Averages State and National averages for facility resident and healthcare personnel COVID-19 vaccination rates. Data are…… Continue reading CMS Updated COVID-19 NH Staff Vaccination Rates

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare [The following information was released via email just a few minutes ago on Monday, January 24, 2022.] In November 2021, the NHSN COVID-19 Vaccination Team held webinars that reviewed frequently asked questions (FAQs) and data entry for the COVID-19 Vaccination Modules. Based on feedback received during…… Continue reading Updates to Frequently Asked Questions: NHSN Weekly COVID-19 Vaccination Modules

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Dear NHSN Users, This e-mail serves as a reminder that for weekly COVID-19 vaccination data reporting, you should be reporting cumulative data for Question 5, the number of individuals who have received an additional or booster dose. This means that for each reporting week, you should…… Continue reading Reporting Cumulative Vaccination Data on Additional and Booster Doses (NHSN)