Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today (Saturday, August 12, 2023) additional resources and flexibilities available in response to the recent wildfires in the State of Hawaii. CMS is working closely with Hawaii to put these flexibilities in place to ensure those affected…… Continue reading CMS Announces Resources and Flexibilities to Assist with the Public Health Emergency in Hawaii Due to Recent Wildfires

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CDC has updated 4 hand hygiene in healthcare settings videosearlier this spring:  Also recently updated is theEnhanced Barrier Precautions in Nursing Homes video: Threats to nursing home residents’ health are changing and we must adapt to protect them. Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) are a known threat to…… Continue reading CDC Updates Videos: Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings and Enhanced Barrier Precautions in Nursing Homes

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare ISMP’s List of Confused Drug Names contains look-alike and sound-alike (LASA) name pairs of medications that have been published in the ISMP Medication Safety Alert!® Acute Care, the ISMP Medication Safety Alert!® Community/Ambulatory Care, and the FDA and ISMP Lists of Look-Alike Drug Names with Recommended Tall Man Letters.[1]   Use this list to determine which medications require…… Continue reading List of Confused Drug Names

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare “LeadingAge and our dedicated members strive 24/7 to make America a better place to grow old. To achieve that goal it’s vital that key stakeholders—including the public, media, and policymakers—understand the vast and diverse population we serve, as well as their circumstances and needs.  We recently produced…… Continue reading New Resource: America Is Aging Infographic

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) recognizes National Immunization Awareness Month during August. Immunizations—also called vaccinations, vaccines, or shots—protect people of all ages against a wide range of diseases and conditions. Throughout August, and the rest of the year,…… Continue reading Immunizations Matter – August is National Immunization Awareness Month

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The iQIES (Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System) Team is announcing that the Idea Portal is now available. The iQIES Idea Portal is a central place to collect, curate, and promote ideas that will help CMS add your feedback into our future software product development.  In…… Continue reading iQIES Idea Portal Now Available

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Biden-Harris Administration is taking further action on its commitment to promote care and support for people with Medicare living with dementia and their unpaid caregivers. Today (Monday, July 31, 2023), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced…… Continue reading Biden-Harris Administration Announces Medicare Dementia Care Model

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel has released the second version of their Standardized Pressure Injury Prevention Protocol – abbreviated as “SPIPP” (pronounced S – PIP). The SPIPP is a shortened checklist of preventive actions to implement at the bedside, adapted from the 2019 Guidelines on…… Continue reading National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel Releases Standardized Pressure Injury Prevention Protocol

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission or CPSC) has determined that there is an unreasonable risk of injury and death associated with entrapment and other hazards from adult portable bed rails (APBRs). CPSC has identified 284 fatal incidents related to entrapment by APBRs between January…… Continue reading Safety Standard for Adult Portable Bed Rails – Final Rule

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The MedPAC July 2022 Data Book: Health Care Spending and the Medicare Program (208 pages) provides information on national health care and Medicare spending as well as Medicare beneficiary demographics, dual-eligible beneficiaries, quality of care in the Medicare program, and Medicare beneficiary and other payer liability.…… Continue reading MedPAC July 2022 Data Book: Health Care Spending and the Medicare Program