Providers must use COVID-19 Staff Vaccination Matrix or provide the same information to prepare for surveys Health facilities that are certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are required to have all staff fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (with the exception of those that have been granted exemptions or for whom vaccination must be temporarily delayed, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
CMS has created a matrix (linked below) to calculate staff vaccination, which facilities can either use or provide a list containing the same information required in the matrix. Having the matrix or list completed in advance will help the facility’s survey go more quickly. Surveyors from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services’ Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance will review the facility’s completed form/list and compare the calculation of staff vaccination rate against data from the National Health Care Safety Network (NHSN). Surveyors also will look for facility plans to vaccinate all eligible staff to meet the thresholds for vaccination, to provide accommodations for staff who are exempt from COVID-19 vaccination and to track/document staff vaccinations. Facilities that are out of compliance will be subject to citations based on severity of the deficiency; facilities that do not come into compliance will be at risk for additional enforcement actions, including loss of Medicare/Medicaid payment. Click here to download a Zip file containing the COVID-19 Staff Vaccination Matrix. Extract the files and look for the document titled, “Staff Matrix for F888.” Refer back to this link to obtain updates to the matrix from CMS directly. Click here for a flyer that summarizes the CMS COVID-19 vaccination requirement for health care workers.
0 Comments
Technical bulletin provides background and clinical recommendations On April 21, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notified clinicians and public health authorities nationwide about a cluster of children in Alabama identified with hepatitis and adenovirus infection. U.S. clinicians who may encounter pediatric patients with hepatitis of unknown etiology are advised to consider adenovirus testing and to elicit reporting of such cases to public health authorities and CDC. Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT, e.g. PCR) is preferred for adenovirus detection and may be performed on respiratory specimens, stool or rectal swabs, or blood.
Complete information is available in a technical bulletin from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services linked here. State health officials address emerging global health threat The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services has published a technical bulletin with information about Candida auris, an emerging fungus that presents a serious global health threat.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is concerned about C. auris for three main reasons:
For guidance and full information, read the technical bulletin linked here. Routine vaccinations will be available in addition to COVID-19 vaccine The Nevada State Immunization Program (NSIP) is expanding its COVID-19 Pharmacy Partnership Program (LTC 2.0) to now provide residents and staff at Long-Term Care Facilities access to not only COVID-19 vaccines, but routine vaccines as well. With the new Long-Term Care All Vaccine Access Program (LTC 3.0), care facilities will be able to partner with a pharmacy to request routine vaccines, such as those protecting against Hepatitis A and B, Influenza, Pneumococcal, Shingles, and Tdap. In addition, you will be able to request Evusheld, a pre-exposure prophylactic medicine administered intramuscularly by your pharmacy partner that prevents COVID-19 infection for immunocompromised persons and those with a prior adverse reaction to COVID-19 vaccine.
See the links below for the recommended vaccine schedules for adults and children and for more information on Evusheld.
Link to Nevada’s Long Term Care All Vaccine Access Program (LTC 3.0) Your facility will be contacted by our pharmacy partners or your local health district via the phone or email contact information you provide on the survey. If you have any questions or comments about the new LTC 3.0 program, please email us at [email protected] Through the new LTC 3.0 program, NSIP and our partners are working to ensure all Nevadans have equal access to recommended vaccines. CMS is ending certain waivers in May in response to impacts on resident health The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is ending specific emergency declaration blanket waivers for skilled nursing facilities, inpatient hospices, intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ICF/IIDs) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) facilities that were enacted to provide flexibility during the COVID-19 pandemic.
These waivers include:
The termination of these blanket waivers will have no effect on other blanket waivers that remain in place such as those for hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs). Those blanket waivers remain in effect to assist hospitals and CAHs, among others, in dealing with their response to the surges of COVID-19 cases in the community. Providers are expected to take immediate steps so that they may return to compliance with the reinstated requirements according to the timeframes listed below. We also recommend that providers continue to follow CDC guidance for preventing the spread of COVID-19 especially during activities that may increase patient or resident contact. Full details (including additional waivers that are ending and timeframes) can be found at the CMS website at Update to COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Blanket Waivers for Specific Providers. COVID vaccine interference and manufacturing challenges lead to voluntary recall. On February 8, 2022, BioRad issued a voluntary recall for the rapid plasma reagin (RPR) portion of the BioPlex 2200 Syphilis Total & RPR Test Kit due to current concerns related to COVID-19 vaccine interference and false reactive RPR results, as well as intermittent manufacturing challenges to produce the RPR reagents that consistently meet stability specifications. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classified this as a Class 2 Device Recall on March 16, 2022. BioRad Laboratories, Inc. has disabled the RPR portion of the Syphilis Total and RPR panels until further notice.
For more details, see the technical bulletin linked here. Technical bulletin provides detail about second booster for certain immunocompromised individuals New federal guidelines recommend an additional booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine for certain individuals. This second booster dose recommendation facilitates making these COVID-19 mRNA vaccines available to populations at higher risk for severe disease, hospitalization and death.
Those eligible to receive the recommended additional mRNA (both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines) booster dose include:
|
AuthorThe Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance (HCQC) licenses medical and other health facilities, child care facilities and personnel, and medical laboratories and personnel in Nevada. HCQC also conducts compliance surveys and takes complaints. Archives
October 2023
Categories
All
|