Coronavirus Update #120
Important Reminders on Testing and Visitation,
Qualitrac 3.0 Memo, ACHA On-Demand Webinar
Important Reminders/Updates on Testing and Visitation

ACTION REQUIRED ASAP : As we shared yesterday, the Maryland Department of Health issued this memorandum regarding mandatory COVID-19 Testing Compliance. A Compliance Analyst will be contacting administrators and providing testing results based on queries of the rosters provided by each facility. Additionally, the Compliance Analyst will provide a properly formatted copy of the combined staff and resident rosters your facility provided to MDH. 

Using the testing results provided by the State and any testing results provided to your facility directly from any laboratory, please update your rosters (excel spreadsheet) to produce one roster that includes the most recent test result for each individual on your combined staff and resident roster. 

Once created please use  MDH secure upload to return your completed rosters and complete the mitigating action questionnaire and attestation. This is required to be completed by 6pm on  Friday June 19, 2020  to avoid potential penalty. Your Compliance Analyst will be your primary point of contact regarding this notice and you will be contacted soon with additional information. 
TESTING BACKGROUND: As we shared earlier this week, the State has not yet been able to match testing to patient and resident rosters to document 100 percent universal testing in our sector that the State ordered, conducted and provided tests for from April 29 to May 29. We know from speaking with many of you that many centers were well underway with testing of residents, patients, and some staff in advance of the government order and the National Guard delivery of tests; your tests need to reconcile with state records. If it turns out that skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers did not test, it would obviously be a major problem for those centers, and not a best foot forward for our sector. We are asking for a roster/list from the State for you all to compare against.  Our advice now would be for centers to account for State tests and tests they conducted independently of the State tests to ensure 100 percent testing and compliance with the initial State order on universal testing. Testing is critical in the fight against COVID-19 and it is difficult to plan ahead without reconciling the current gap in numbers.


VISITATION: We have for weeks been advocating for skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers, assisted living campus, and senior housing to begin thinking about and planning for resuming some form of visitation, as well as augmenting work that has been done on virtual visitation. We have advised the State with these recommendations and continue to coordinate our thinking on this with LeadingAge Maryland and Lifespan. We could expect more extensive federal and state orders on this front soon. This is another reason why the first round of universal testing and CRISP reporting is so very important.

AS ALWAYS:

  • Over communicate with residents, patients, families and staff
  • Operate DRIVEN your infectious disease protocol
  • Take and document your action
  • Keep a timeline
  • Work with your hospital partners, and coordinate with local and state regulatory partners
  • Training - now is the time to be continuously training on PPE, Donning, Doffing and all things infectious disease protocol, workforce/workflow
Qualitrac 3.0 Memo

Please see this updated Qualitrac 3.0 Memo from MDH. On August 1, 2020, the Maryland Department of Health’s (MDH) Utilization Control Agent, Telligen, will be releasing an update to their web-based provider portal, Qualitrac. Current Qualitrac users will be required to reset their passwords when they first login to Qualitrac 3.0 on or after this date. Usernames will remain the same.
AHCA On Demand Webinar: Providers Share Their Experiences with COVID-19 Telehealth Waivers

AHCA/NCAL has posted a 45-minute webinar on ahcancalED in which four members (from independent owners to large multistate for-profit and nonprofit organizations) share their experiences in implementing the COVID-19 telehealth waivers, and how the waivers have helped improve care during the public health emergency. The webinar is free to AHCA/NCAL members and is viewable on-demand.
Did you miss HFAM's previous alerts?

Visit our website to view all previous HFAM alerts, as well as guidance
from our federal and state partners.
Thank you.

We cannot thank you enough for the dedication and diligence in doing all that you can for the residents in your communities. HFAM continues to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic with our state and national partners and will do all we can to support you during this time.