July 23, 2020
Yesterday, several new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) initiatives designed to protect nursing home residents from COVID-19 were announced.
New Funding
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will devote an additional $5 billion of the Provider Relief Fund to Medicare-certified long term care facilities and state veterans’ homes (“nursing homes”), to build nursing home skills and enhance nursing homes’ response to COVID-19.
- This funding can be used to address critical needs including
- hiring additional staff,
- implementing infection control “mentorship” programs,
- increasing testing, and
- providing technological support for so residents can connect to their families.
- Nursing homes must participate in the Nursing Home COVID-19 Training to be qualified to receive this funding.
- The training has 23 educational modules and a scenario-based learning module that include materials on cohorting strategies and using telehealth in nursing homes.
Enhanced Testing
- CMS will begin requiring, rather than recommending, that all nursing homes in states with a 5% positivity rate or greater test all nursing home staff each week.
- More than 15,000 rapid point testing devices will be deployed over the next few months to help support this mandate, with over 600 devices shipping this week.
- Funds from the Provider Relief Fund can also be used to pay for additional testing of visitors.
Additional Technical Assistance and Support
- Federal Task Force Strike Teams were recently deployed to some nursing homes experiencing outbreaks in order to provide onsite technical assistance and education in an effort to help reduce transmission and the risk of COVID-19 spread among residents.
- The teams focused on the four key areas of support including
- keeping COVID-19 out of facilities,
- detecting COVID-19 cases quickly,
- preventing virus transmission, and
- managing staff.
