Late last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updates to infection control guidance. In turn, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) updated its own guidance for nursing homes in those subject areas to align with CDC's new recommendations.
On Monday, CMS also issued QSO 22-25-CLIA, rescinding previous guidance regarding the enforcement discretion under CLIA for the use of tests for SARS-CoV-2 on asymptomatic individuals outside of the test’s authorization, when an Emergency Use Authorization has been granted by the FDA.
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Join WHCA/WiCAL, members of Wisconsin’s long-term care community, and valued partners at the 71st Annual Fall Convention & Gold Partner Expo. WHCA/WiCAL will be returning to the beautiful and scenic Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake, October 19-21.
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Senior members of the AHCA Quality & Regulatory team will review recent updates to COVID-19 guidance for nursing homes from the CMS and CDC.
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Nursing Home providers and stakeholders are invited to attend a webinar hosted by the Division of Quality Assurance (DQA). During this webinar, the DQA will provide information on Phase 3 updates to the federal regulations and updates to State Operations Manual Chapter 5 related to complaints and facility reported incidents.
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Starting October 25, 2022,
WisCaregiver Careers will host a free webinar series on how to build or expand your peer-to-peer CNA mentorship program. The webinar series will teach participants how to implement a successful model program specific to the long-term care setting.
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The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) will launch its
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Adult HCBS
Minimum Fee Schedule Provider Cost Survey in
early October 2022. You’re invited to participate. DHS will use survey data to develop a minimum fee schedule for select home and community-based services (HCBS) in the Family Care and Family Care Partnership programs.
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WHCA/WiCAL staff met with DQA leadership on September 20
th for a quarterly meeting. Survey trends, new contracted surveyors, the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, and more were discussed.
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CMS will update quality measure (QM) rating thresholds on the Nursing Home Compare
website every six months
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The October 7 deadline for Emergency Nurse Aides to be placed on the Wisconsin nurse aide registry is a little more than a week away. Are your Emergency Nurse Aides positioned to be on the registry by that deadline? If not, make sure they take action as soon as possible.
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On Friday morning, DHS announced that personal protective equipment (PPE) including N95 respirators, KN95 masks, gowns, gloves, coveralls, respirator fit testing kits, and additional medical supplies are available to health care providers, including skilled nursing facilities, now.
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Approximately $14.5 billion of Phase 4 Payments has been distributed to more than 89,000 providers and 98 percent of applications have been processed. To date, more than $8 billion has been distributed through ARP Rural Payments and 99% of applications have been processed. Providers who received Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments exceeding $10,000 in the aggregate between January 1, 2021, and June 30, 2021, are required to report in RP3.
The deadline for providers to submit a report is September 30, 2022, at 11:59 PM ET. Read More
