Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® While implementing a mandatory influenza vaccination policy for health care personnel is not required by the federal government or any regulatory agency, employers can influence the vaccination status of their employees.  “Influenza vaccination requirements work; they are the only intervention that have consistently raised influenza…… Continue reading Guidance for LTC Leaders Planning to Implement an Influenza Vaccination Requirement Policy for Health Care Personnel to Improve Influenza Vaccination

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® QSOG is a new acronym for me and possibly for our readers as well. In short, it references the program we’ve known for a long time as Survey & Certification. The mission of the Quality, Safety & Oversight Group, formerly known as the Survey &…… Continue reading QSOG Mission and Priority Information

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® It’s mid-October. Do you know if your staff are vaccinated again influenza? What are you doing to promote and increase vaccination rates for your staff? Where are you with promoting vaccination for the individuals that live in and visit your facility? It takes a village…… Continue reading It’s Flu Season Again! Are you Prepared??

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® CMS has just issued a revised special edition MLN Matters (SE18021) on Hurricane Michael and Medicare Disaster Related Florida and Georgia Claims. President Trump has declared a state of emergency for the states of Florida and Georgia, and the HHS Secretary declared a Public Health…… Continue reading Hurricane-Related CMS Information Releases: Hurricane Michael and Medicare Disaster Related Florida and Georgia Claims Extraordinary Circumstances Extension / Exception (ECE) due to Hurricane Florence

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® The August 30, 2018 edition of MLN Connects provides a great Fact Sheet for all health care professionals as well as health care organizations. Here’s a sample of the topics and resources available in this Fact Sheet: Medical Privacy Health Care Professionals’ Privacy Guide HIPAA…… Continue reading Medical Privacy of Protected Health Information

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® The QIES Technical Support Office website has undergone a dramatic updating! It has a brand new look – much easier to read and navigate. When one explores by topic and selects Reference & Manuals then tools, the descriptors for CASPER, OASIS and MDS show in…… Continue reading New Look to QTSO.Com Website

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare® CMS has posted an updated Chapter 2 – The Certification Process to the State Operations Manual. This Chapter is dated July 6, 2018. The previous chapter carried a revision date of November 4, 2016. The 11/2016 version of this chapter was 458 pages in length;…… Continue reading Updated SOM Chapter 2 – Certification Process