COVID-19 Vaccination Federal Mandate for Staff

COVID-19 has certainly taken taking its toll on the nursing home industry where staffing was a challenge even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent directive by the federal government that is mandating that all employees of skilled nursing facilities to be COVID-19 vaccinated on or about October 18th, 2021, (the estimated last day for final COVID-19 Vaccine shot on October 4, 2021) further compounds the staffing crisis and could result in significant negative ramifications to the clinical, financial, and operational performance of nursing facilities.

This new federal mandate comes shortly after the May 11th, 2021 regulation requiring nursing homes to report weekly the status of completed COVID-19 vaccinations for both residents and staff to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).

Do you know how your community views you? Beginning in October 2020, certain Quality Reporting Programs (QRP) measures are being publicly reported on Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare site. How do you compare to your competitors in these QRP measures? Continual review, analysis and adjustment of your practices is the key to depicting the stellar services you provide.

Newly publicized QRP measures include:

PDPM Isolation, Quarantine, Skilling, COVID-19, and ICD-10
Top 6 Things to Know

HHI is receiving ongoing inquiries on the MDS Coding qualifiers for Isolation and Quarantine. Although it may seem simple, there is a difference between Isolation and Quarantine.

• Isolation is for patients with symptoms and or positive tests.

• Quarantine is for patients exposed but exhibits no symptoms.

According to the CDC, isolation is for people who are ill, while quarantine applies to people who have been in the presence of a disease but have not necessarily become sick themselves. Per the CDC,

Confusion, new directives every hour, residents desperate for help, family, and hope. Your clinical awareness is sharp, on high alert, mindful of any shift in condition. Your all-consuming focus is the health of the patients in your care.

In March 2020, this was the scene in the Long-Term Care landscape. In the blink of an eye, staff intent on treating patients during the pandemic lost the time once dedicated to PDPM initiatives. Fast forward to October 2020, Long-Term Care heroes have helped define “essential”. Our SNF saviors have come out the other side, with techniques and processes to endure the COVID-19 pandemic; and ready to set their sights on the PDPM game once again.

Have you ever felt like your life was an eternal boxing match? Every day you wake up, put your gloves on, and head out just to fight another day. I have felt this feeling many times throughout my life, but nothing has compared to this year of uncertainty and change. As I sit at my desk writing this article, the date is October 1st. Exactly one year ago today the company put on its' boxing gloves and went out to face PDPM. Our company spent over a year planning and preparing for that day and just as we were getting our arms around this new payment system, in came Round 2, COVID-19.

We barely had time to sit in our corner and catch our breath before putting the gloves on to go fight again. With this opponent, we did not have much time for preparation. There was a lot of trial and error and learn as you go. All of our teams bravely stepped up to this new opponent, and I was personally able to see the unwavering commitment from all of you. Six months into this pandemic, we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But just as we have had a moment to sit in our corner and catch our breath, here comes Round 3!

The emergence of a population group identified as the well elderly is the result of social and demographic progress in the industrial world. More elderly people are living longer and poverty, frailty, and dependence are not necessarily the com­mon characteristics attributed to most old people.

The future portends a healthier well elderly population who are better educated and physically as well as emotionally prepared. Society has, at present, begun utilizing their capabilities for the foreseeable future, thus guaranteeing a potentially rich human resource.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the governors of Illinois and Michigan have issue Executive Orders prohibiting long-term care providers from involuntarily discharging resident’s for non-payment. Other states, such as New York, are under pressure to pass similar prohibitions.

Pursuant to Illinois Executive Order 2020-35, Section 14, the provisions of the Nursing Home Care Act, 210 ILCS 45/3-401(d), MC/DD Act, 210 ILCS 46/3-401, and ID/DD Community Care Act, 210 ILCS 47/3-401, permitting a long-term care facility to initiate an involuntary transfer or discharge of a resident for late payment or nonpayment, is suspended. Full text available here.

Facilities face supply chain disruptions and staffing shortages

Faced with a global pandemic now affecting everyday life across the country, the U.S. healthcare system is struggling to cope with potential staffing shortages and supply chain disruptions.

“Everybody is stressed,” said Bill McGinley, President and CEO of the American College of Healthcare Administrators, or ACHCA. “Most of the stress is coming from the conflicting information put out by the CDC, CMS and various state agencies. Often it is conflicting and changes from day to day. It is very hard to keep up.”