06/23/2022
Survey Tip of the Week: COVID-19 Screening
The Infection Prevention and Control F-tag 880 is the second highest F-tag cited for Ohio surveys in 2022. The Long-Term Care Survey Process (LTCSP) instructs surveyors to review a sample of employees to determine compliance with screening procedures. Recent citation examples include surveyors identifying staff working on the day of the survey that had not completed the facilities surveillance for COVID-19 by completing the COVID-19 screening log. The Requirements of Participation §483.80(a)(2) state that facilities must have written standards, policies, and procedures for the infection prevention and control program which must include but are not limited to: (i) A system of surveillance designed to identify possible communicable diseases or infections before they can spread to other persons in the facility.
The CMS QSO-20-39-NH memo notes that core principles of COVID-19 infection prevention should be maintained for all who enter a nursing home. The CDC’s Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Healthcare Personnel During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic guidance states that a nursing home should establish a process to identify anyone entering the facility, regardless of their vaccination status, who has any of the following three criteria so that they can be properly managed:
The Infection Prevention, Control and Immunizations survey pathway instructs surveyors to assess if the facility has a system in place for staff to report a communicable illness, including symptoms of COVID-19; a positive test for COVID-19; and if he/she meets criteria for quarantine/work exclusion; whether the facility has a policy for monitoring and evaluating clusters or outbreaks of illness among staff; and whether the facility is documenting staff with signs/symptoms (e.g., fever) of COVID-19 according to their surveillance plan.
LeadingAge Ohio encourages facilities to utilize Long-Term Care Survey Pathways to monitor for compliance. The survey pathways can be found on the CMS Nursing Home webpage, under the download section, and within the zip file called LTC Survey Pathways.
For more information about the citations occurring in Ohio, please join us on the monthly STAT: Survey Tips and Tactics call. Register now for the July 13 call at 10:00AM.
Since the restart of Ohio annual surveys in January, LeadingAge Ohio has been sharing tips to assist members during the survey process. Send questions you’d like addressed in future Tips of the Week to Stephanie DeWees at sdewees@leadingageohio.org.
