Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare New action will protect patients of the 50,000 providers and over 17 million health care workers in Medicare and Medicaid certified facilities The Biden-Harris Administration will require COVID-19 vaccination of staff within all Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities to protect both them and patients from the virus…… Continue reading Breaking News: Biden-Harris Administration to Expand Vaccination Requirements for HC Settings

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has posted the latest county positivity rates for August 18th through August 31, 2021. Remember that the “archived” rates are found on the individual sheets or pages at the bottom of the Excel spreadsheet. Be sure to check your county’s positivity rate as that becomes…… Continue reading CMS Posts Latest County Positivity Rates

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS posted the latest nursing home data for week ending August 22, 2021. Comparing the data from 8/15 to 8/22, each one of the 6 categories reported rose with this latest report: Resident vaccination rose 0.5%Staff vaccination rose 0.7%Resident deaths increased by 392Staff deaths increased by…… Continue reading CMS, CDC and NHSN Post Latest COVID-19 Data

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare OIG released the results of its on August 30, 2021.  The complete report is 28 pages in length. “This report describes the complex care needs of beneficiaries hospitalized with COVID-19. It focuses on surges in COVID-19 hospitalizations in six localities and builds upon prior OIG work…… Continue reading OIG Study: Medicare Beneficiaries Hospitalized With COVID-19 Experienced a Wide Range of Serious, Complex Conditions

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare COVID-19 Vaccines for Long-term Care Facility Residents was updated August 31, 2021.   It’s not clear exactly what was updated on this website but there is a lot of good information.  I encourage you to share this information/website with your staff, residents and families. CDC launches COVID-19…… Continue reading Recent CDC Updates: COVID-19 Information

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has posted the latest county positivity rates for August 11 – August 24, 2021.  There’s a lot of red on this latest report. Remember the previous positivity rates are found on individual tabs/sheets at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has posted NH data for week ending August 15, 2021. The home page for the CMS nursing home data is found here. CDC’s COVID Data Tracker shows this information: NHSN’s Nursing Home COVID-19 Data Dashboard shows this data (as of August 23, 2021): The NHSN…… Continue reading Latest COVID-19 Data from CMS, NHSN and CDC

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare On Tuesday, August 24, 2021, the AMA (American Medical Association) issued this statement(I have bolded the verbiage in the last paragraph): The following statement is attributable to:Gerald E. Harmon, M.D.President, American Medical Association “The FDA has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and the meticulously collected evidence…… Continue reading AMA Encourages COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates to Defeat Pandemic

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Impact of COVID-19 on Medicare Beneficiaries in Nursing Homes Analysis presents preliminary information on the impact of COVID-19 on Medicare beneficiaries in a nursing home.  Specifically, the analysis focuses on beneficiaries with a COVID-19 diagnosis or hospitalization by institutional setting (i.e., nursing home versus…… Continue reading Impact of COVID-19 on Medicare Beneficiaries in Nursing Homes

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Part of Biden-Harris Administration Vaccine Outreach, CMS Boosts Vaccine Access in Smaller Group Homes, Assisted Living Facilities, and Other Group Living Situations As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing commitment to increasing access to vaccinations and improving health equity, CMS is expanding opportunities for people…… Continue reading CMS Expands Medicare Payments for At-Home COVID-19 Vaccinations