Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS posted an updated Nursing Home Visitation FAQ document on March 10, 2022. There are several updates, all identified in red font. The updates relate to being up-to-date with all recommended vaccines, for the most part. These are the questions for which the answers were updated…… Continue reading CMS Updates FAQ Document: Nursing Home Visitation

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare LTCCC (Long Term Care Community Coalition) posted this alert on March 3, 2022: “Federal requirements mandate that nursing homes have sufficient staff, with the appropriate competencies to meet the clinical, emotional, and psychosocial needs of every resident. Unfortunately, understaffing is a widespread and persistent problem that…… Continue reading Nursing Home Staffing Levels Fall 8% in Six Months

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The PBJ QTSO Registration and Training document carries a date of February 24, 2022.  When you access that hyperlink, you’ll find this: It looks like the document was posted yesterday – March 9, 2022 on the Staffing Data Submission Payroll Based Journal (PBJ) landing page,…… Continue reading PBJ QTSO Registration and Training – Resources Document

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare This is the title of a KHN News article published on March 3, 2022. “President Joe Biden’s top Medicare official suggested Wednesday that forthcoming rules to bolster nursing home staffing won’t be issued under a mechanism, known as interim final rules, that would allow regulations to…… Continue reading Biden Pledges Better Nursing Home Care, But He Likely Won’t Fast-Track It

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS issued this Press Releaseon Wednesday, March 2, 2022: During President Biden’s first year in office, CMS has worked to expand health care coverage to a record 14.5 million people through the Health Insurance Marketplaces, encouraged states to extend Medicaid coverage for a full 12 months…… Continue reading Statement from CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure on President Biden’s State of the Union 

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has posted the updated 5-page Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Quick Reference Guide – v2.0 with the date of January 28, 2022.  (I think this updated document was posted on March 2, 2022, judging from the page last modified stamp on the…… Continue reading SNF QRP Quick Reference Guide Updated

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS is hosting the next National Nursing Home Stakeholder Call on Thursday, March 10, 2022 from 3pm to 4pm ET. Register HERE. “Following the State of Union, CMS will further outline the details of our nursing home vision and implementation strategy through national stakeholder calls, list…… Continue reading Next National Nursing Home Stakeholder Call – March 10, 2022

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare A new study published today [February 28, 2022] in JAMA Network Open shows that long-term care facilities that participated in a safety program funded by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) saw a significant decrease in antibiotic use, thereby…… Continue reading New Study Shows Reduced Antibiotic Use at LTCFs Participating in HHS-funded Program

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare “The purpose of this primer is to provide updated information to the patient safety community about the challenges of ensuring the safe care of older adults in Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing homes (NHs) associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the federal and state efforts taken…… Continue reading Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Safety of Older Adults Residing in Nursing Homes

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS emailed this statement approximately 1 hour ago (afternoon of Tuesday, March 1, 2022): “At tonight’s State of the Union address, the Biden-Harris administration is announcing a vision to improve quality of care and quality of life for nursing home residents. The Centers for Medicare and…… Continue reading State of the Union Address – Nursing Home Vision