Online resource packed with regulatory news and expert guidance, tips & tools pertinent to professionals across the post-acute care continuum.
Whether your home health agency is already working toward recovery from a peak load of COVID-19 patients or is still amidst the onslaught, remember there will be a second wave of patients in a few months. Take your lessons learned and update policies, protocols and action plans in anticipation of patient numbers that may be […]
CMS has released its updates for the first quarter (January to March 2020) Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP). The update includes Hospice QRP requirements and information CMS gathered for the development of the Hospice Outcome & Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool. Additionally, CMS has been recruiting hospice providers to participate in a HOPE field test (called […]
CMS’ Quality, Safety and Oversight (QSO) group released a memo directed to nursing homes that is helpful for home health and hospice providers. The memo provides guidance on reporting COVID-19 to residents, representatives and families of residents, as well as reporting the data directly to the CDC. CMS will also begin posting data from the […]
The deadline for when health care providers must attest to receipt of payments, from the Provider Relief Fund, has been extended. Now providers have 45 days instead of 30 days, from the date they receive a payment, to attest and accept the terms and conditions, or return the funds, according to a May 7 U.S. […]
CMS has updated its COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Blanket Waivers for Health Care Providers document. Therapists who can perform the initial and comprehensive assessment for home health patients now include physical therapists (PTs) and speech language pathologists (SLPs), in addition to occupational therapists. This applies during the public health emergency. For more information, visit: https://go.cms.gov/35TLIIL.
The impact of the pandemic on every sector has been massive, especially for healthcare professionals. The workforce has dealt with major impacts spanning staff assignments being shifted to areas of greater need to work from home mandates. In other instances individuals are reconciling job furloughs, layoffs, and even closures, with vulnerability replacing job security. However, […]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a few changes regarding discontinuation of transmission-based precautions and disposition of patients with COVID-19 in health care settings. As of April 30, CDC made the following updates: Updated the name of the “non-test-based strategy” to the “symptom-based strategy” for those with symptoms and the “time-based strategy” […]
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a cleaning and disinfecting guidance for public spaces, workplaces, businesses, schools and homes. “Reducing the risk of exposure to COVID-19 by cleaning and disinfection is an important part of reopening public spaces that will require careful planning,” the April 28 EPA statement says. The guidance contains resources broken […]
CMS has issued more 1135 hospice waivers for the duration of COVID-19. Specifically, annual onsite supervisory visits for aides that provide services through an agency will be postponed. CMS is also changing §418.58(a)–(d) and §484.65(a)–(d) to limit the scope of the QAPI program to focus on infection control issues. The requirement that activities should focus […]
The first diagnostic test with a home collection option for COVID-19 has been authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA reissued the emergency use authorization (EUA), allowing the Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) COVID-19 RT-PCT Test to enable testing of samples self-collected by patients at home, according to an FDA news […]