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01/14/2021

Today's COVID-19 Report: Friday, January 15, 2021

Friday, January 15, 2021

Here are the latest need-to-know updates for Friday, January 15 regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and other topics of importance.


A REMINDER TO ALL MEMBERS

Check LeadingAge's FAQs and Resources on COVID-19 Vaccines and Issues Surrounding Vaccinations frequently. The most recent update includes Q&A on implications of mandating the vaccine for staff.
The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) has released a preliminary toolkit that has been developed with talking points, language tips, social media language, and trusted resources to help you better communicate about the safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines that have arrived in Ohio.

In Today's Report

HHS announces longer grace period on PRF reporting

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today that providers who received more than $10,000 in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments will now have a longer grace period to report how they used the funding. This decision was made after Congress passed the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act late last year, which boosted the Provider Relief Fund by an additional $3 billion.

The reporting portal was slated to open today, January 15, with an original deadline of February 15. The agency did not establish a new deadline, so PRF recipients who received funding greater than $10,000 should still register on the portal. Today’s update does not apply to funds from: Nursing Home Infection Control, Rural Health Clinics Testing, and COVID-19 Claims Reimbursement to Health Care Providers and Facilities for Testing, Treatment, and Vaccine Administration for the Uninsured recipients.

See McKnight’s write up on this breaking news.

CDC Report: Rates of COVID-19 in nursing homes

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) on rates of COVID-19 among residents and staff members in nursing homes in the US. Rates of COVID-19 among nursing home residents and staff members increased during June and July 2020, and again in November. Trends in reported COVID-19 cases among nursing home residents and staff members were similar to trends in incidence of COVID-19 in surrounding communities. Increases in community rates might be associated with increases in nursing home COVID-19 incidence, and nursing home mitigation strategies need to include a comprehensive plan to monitor local SARS-CoV-2 transmission and minimize high-risk exposures within facilities.

CDC Report: Allergic reactions to the vaccine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) on Allergic Reactions Including Anaphylaxis After Receipt of the First Dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine in the US. From December 14 through December 23, monitoring by the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System detected 21 cases of anaphylaxis after administration of a reported 1,893,360 first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (11.1 cases per million doses); 71% of these occurred within 15 minutes of vaccination. Locations administering COVID-19 vaccines should adhere to CDC guidance for use of COVID-19 vaccines, including screening recipients for contraindications and precautions, having the necessary supplies available to manage anaphylaxis, implementing the recommended post-vaccination observation periods, and immediately treating suspected cases of anaphylaxis with intramuscular injection of epinephrine.

LeadingAge 2021 Policy Action Forum: January 27 at 2:00PM

LeadingAge is hosting its live virtual 2021 Policy Action Forum on January 27 at 2:00PM to look ahead at how LeadingAge will continue to support aging services providers from across the continuum. Attendees will get an inside view of how politics influences the sector, especially with a new Congress and Administration coming into power, and will hear from LeadingAge leadership about the path for advocacy and policy in the year ahead.

Speakers include health policy expert, Dr. Adaeze Enekwechi; LeadingAge’s board chair, Carol Silver Elliott; LeadingAge President Katie Smith Sloan; and LeadingAge Senior Vice President of Public Policy Ruth Katz.

Web-based training opportunities from CMS

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering web-based training courses that provide an overview of the following topics:

From Data Elements to Quality Measures – Cross-Setting QRP Web-Based Training

This course provides a high-level overview of how data elements within CMS patient/resident assessment instruments are used to construct quality measures (QMs) across post-acute care (PAC) settings. The PAC settings included are those covered under the CMS Quality Reporting Programs (QRPs) for Home Health Agencies (HHAs), Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs), Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs) and Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs). Information covered will include a short review of the QRPs’ cross-setting quality measures (QM), how data elements feed into these cross-setting QMs, how QMs are calculated and appear on QM reports, and how to access and use this data for quality improvement. 

Please click here to access the web-based training.

Section M:  Skin Conditions Assessment and Coding of Pressure Ulcers/Injuries Web-Based Training

This course provides an overview of the assessment and coding of pressure ulcers/injuries. This 90-minute course is intended for providers in Home Health Agencies (HHAs), Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs), Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs), and Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs), and is designed to be used on demand anywhere you can access a browser. The course is divided into six sections and includes interactive exercises to test your knowledge related to the assessment and coding of pressure ulcers/injuries.  

Please click here to access the web-based training.

If you have technical questions or feedback regarding the training, please email the PAC Training mailbox. Content-related questions should be submitted to the Home Health Quality Help Desk.

OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Program: What you need to know

On Thursday, January 28 at 12:00PM, the Johnson Kendall Johnson (JKJ) Control Team will be holding a one-hour open discussion to address the following:

The discussion will be followed by a Q&A session. To register for this free webinar, please click here.

LeadingAge Need to Know: COVID-19 – January 15, 2021

LeadingAge shares the latest coronavirus news and resources with members twice each weekday. This morning's update featured an updated on the "American Rescue Plan" for COVID relief from the incoming Administration.

Check out the full report here.


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Questions

Please send all questions to COVID19@leadingageohio.org. Additionally, members are encouraged to visit the LeadingAge Ohio COVID-19 Working Group facebook group to pose questions to peers and share best practices. LeadingAge is continuing its daily calls for all members.  To participate in these daily online updates, members should register here.  

LeadingAge Ohio is working to ensure that the information in our daily alerts, on our website, and all coronavirus-related communications is as accurate as possible. However, LeadingAge Ohio makes no guarantees about the accuracy of the information. 

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