Mild COVID in low-risk healthcare workers: 1 in 7 report lasting symptoms … Up next: CMS moves to mandate staff vaccination reporting during public health emergency … Healthcare workers upbeat about...
Nursing homes struggling with nuances of federal visitation policy
By
Kimberly Marselas
Mar 19, 2021
A week and a half after nursing home operators across the country learned they could open their doors to visitors, many are still grappling with the nuances of new visitation guidelines issued by the Centers...
CMS opens visitation to nursing homes after year of isolation
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 11, 2021
“Facilities should allow responsible indoor visitation at all times” — no matter the vaccination status of resident or visitor, the agency now says. Its action follows the remarkable, apparent...
Relaxed regulations lead to spike in telehealth use, nursing homes report
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 12, 2020
Continued telehealth expansion under Medicare will be good for residents’ well-being, and may help administrators keep pace with other healthcare sectors, according to the Columbia University School...
CMS test protocol misses too many asymptomatic workers: statewide COVID study
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 04, 2020
If the goal is to identify all asymptomatic nursing home staff, comprehensive repeat testing may be needed regardless of COVID positivity rates in the community, investigators told McKnight’s.
Opt-in COVID vaccine program kicks off; Feds partner with CVS, Walgreens
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 19, 2020
Long-term care facilities nationwide can voluntarily opt in to a free pharmacy partnership program that will provide and administer future COVID-19 vaccines on site, federal officials announced Friday.
CMS seeks to ease COVID staff testing burden on rural operators
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 01, 2020
Some nursing homes have been required to conduct staff testing at a higher frequency than necessary, the agency said in explaining recent changes to its testing methodology.
County COVID-19 rates will dictate staff testing frequency, new CMS guidance says
By
Liza Berger
Aug 27, 2020
Routine testing of staff now will be based on the level of COVID-19 activity in the community. That’s according to official new guidance released Wednesday in response to federal regulatory changes disclosed...
Question hangs over rapid antigen test equipment program: Can it support new CMS regulations?
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 26, 2020
The new devices are intended for testing symptomatic patients within five days of symptom onset. How this scenario will fit into CMS’s new regulations for testing staff and residents remains to be...
CMS to unveil new mandatory coronavirus testing, accounting requirements for nursing homes: report
By
Danielle Brown
Aug 25, 2020
Nursing homes could soon be subject to more coronavirus testing and reporting regulations.