COVID-19 Diagnosis Coding Guidance Timeline for Auditing Claims Diagnosis Coding Tool

Recently, CMS resumed medical reviews for Medicare claims for dates of service after March 2020; however, it may be difficult for facility staff to audit COVID-19-related diagnoses due to how frequently guidance was updated from February 2020 through January 1, 2021. AAPACN’s COVID-19 Diagnosis Coding Guidance Timeline for Auditing Claims …

COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Among Health Care Workers and Other Front-Line Workers (4/21)

Interim Estimates of Vaccine Effectiveness of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 COVID-19 Vaccines in Preventing SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Health Care Personnel, First Responders, and Other Essential and Frontline Workers — Eight U.S. Locations, December 2020–March 2021   Weekly / April 2, 2021 / 70(13);495–500 Summary   What is already known about this topic? …

COVID-19 Discharges: Keys to Preventing Hospital Readmissions

While data on hospital readmissions of skilled nursing facility (SNF) residents who have had COVID-19 following SNF discharge currently remains scarce, at least one study indicates the need for careful management of the discharge planning process for these residents. Discharge to a SNF from the acute-care hospital, age greater than …

Visiting Loved Ones in a Nursing Home – English and Spanish Graphic Available (3/21)

On March 10, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued updated guidance for nursing homes to safely expand visitation options during the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency (PHE). Today, CMS is releasing a graphic to further explain the expanded …

Updated Healthcare Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations in Response to COVID-19 Vaccination (3/21)

Updated Mar. 10, 2021 Find the most recent update here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/infection-control-after-vaccination.html CDC guidance for SARS-CoV-2 infection may be adapted by state and local health departments to respond to rapidly changing local circumstances. On this page Visitation Work restriction for asymptomatic healthcare personnel and quarantine for asymptomatic patients and residents SARS-CoV-2 Testing …

Consolidated Appropriations and Coronavirus Relief Act: Impact on SNF Part A Services (2/21)

  Full text:  https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/133/text   Sections addressing SNF VBP changes and access to services for hemophilia residents:   SEC. 111. IMPROVING MEASUREMENTS UNDER THE SKILLED NURSING FACILITY VALUE-BASED PURCHASING PROGRAM UNDER THE MEDICARE PROGRAM.       (a) In General.–Section 1888(h) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395yy(h)) is amended–         …

Staffing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Guide for Nursing Home Leaders (2/21)

A resource guide, written by and for directors of nursing, administrators, and other nursing home leaders, outlines steps to reduce or eliminate urgent staff shortages, particularly shortages of direct care workers. This guide is from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and Project ECHO, a project of the Agency for Healthcare …

Center for Medicare Advocacy Offers Nursing Home COVID-19 Lessons Learned and Policy Recommendations (2/21)

The Center for Medicare Advocacy released a new report – Geography Is Not Destiny: Protecting Nursing Home Residents from the Next Pandemic – which explores facilities’ responses to the coronavirus crisis and examines how residents’ deaths were not “inevitable”, as some have claimed. The report contends that COVID-19 exploited and exacerbated long-standing …

SNF Consolidated Billing: COVID-19 Monoclonal Antibody Treatment (2/21)

·  CMS Takes Further Steps to Ensure Medicare Beneficiaries Have Wide Access to COVID-19 Antibody Treatment ·  COVID-19 Vaccines and Monoclonal Antibody Infusion: Enforcement Discretion Relating to SNF Consolidated Billing Medicare Monoclonal Antibody COVID-19 Infusion Program Instruction (PDF) (2/16/21)

CDC Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of PPE and Other Equipment (12/20)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers strategies for optimizing the supply of: N95 respirators Face masks Isolation gowns Eye Protection Gloves Powered Air-Purifying Respirators (PAPRs) Elastomeric respirators Ventilators https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/ppe-strategy/index.html Also see: Summary for Healthcare Facilities: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/ppe-strategy/strategies-optimize-ppe-shortages.html Summary for Healthcare Facilities: Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of N95 Respirators …