Today we're hosting our Friday afternoon member call on COVID-19 at 3:30 pm. Please note we have updated the call schedule to every three weeks. Register for the series to receive a confirmation email with today's call-in information along with calendar notices for future calls. 

We look forward to talking with everyone at 3:30 pm.

Sincerely,

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting, including calendar notices for future calls.

Zoom has a chat feature you can use to send questions or comments.

CMS requires nursing homes to test staff on a serial basis. VDH has created a REDCap form to notify the local health departments that your facility does not have access to point-of-care (POC) testing or a private/commercial lab with a turnaround time (TAT) less than 48 hours.

The frequency of “Routine Testing” of staff is determined by county positivity per CMS data using the following formula:

When using the REDCap form, the automated email you will receive can be saved and used as documentation of notifying the local health department.

Facilities using POC diagnostic equipment under a CLIA certificate of waiver must report all SARS-CoV-2 test results for each individual tested via the National Healthcare Safety Network and to the state or local health department. Additional information about CMS reporting requirements is available here. 

VDH has developed a reporting portal for POC testing results and this information has been included on the LTC Task Force website under "Testing Guidance". VDH strongly encourages that all COVID-19 laboratory test results be reported via electronic formats.

CMS has posted an updated file with COVID-19 county positivity data (scroll to the “COVID-19 Testing” section) for staff testing. The data was published on September 17 for the period from September 3 -9. VHCA-VCAL has pulled the data for Virginia’s counties.

We have discovered inaccuracies in the color coding in the CMS file—the color coding does not always match what the percent positive indicates it should be. The Virginia-specific file correctly matches the percent positivity with the red, yellow, or green designations.

You should have a plan and process to check the CMS data weekly. It does not need to be checked more often. Changing the frequency of testing only needs to happen when you check the data per your plan, not immediately after CMS updates the data. You should be checking the data at least every seven (7) days. You need to change testing the next time you have self-scheduled to check the data. This does not  preclude you from checking sooner and changing based on that check.

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will be sending 1 million Abbott BinaxNOW™ test kits to skilled nursing facilities and 540,000 test kits to assisted living communities certified by CMS with a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA) Certificate of Waiver.  

Join HHS and Abbot for a webinar on Friday, September 18 from 12:00 – 1:00 pm to get more information on the tests, including training, and use in ALFS. During the webinar, Abbott will demonstrate the training tools available and representatives from the US government will be online to speak about the program. Register now.

September 18, 2020 | 12:00 pm

HHS is expected to ship test kits to all ALFs with CLIA Certificates of Waiver this week to be used for residents and staff. Kits will also be sent to some SNFs for use with staff. Replenishment of kits will be weekly thereafter with enough kits varying by the county the facility is located in and based on the CMS ratings for COVID-19 test positivity in that county (red, yellow or green). HHS has also provided a training portal here. 

AHCA/NCAL has also heard that some providers have received an invoice from Abbott. AHCA/NCAL confirmed with Abbott that these were sent in error and you do not need to pay these invoices. Similarly, some members received information about “shipping specifications” that also include an error that they would be receiving large pallets of test kits. The amount of test kits will be based on estimates of the number of residents and staff you have in your facility and to last you for 1-2 weeks until the next shipment arrives.

CMS released a new memo QSO-20-39-NH: Nursing Home Visitation - COVID-19, which greatly improves the ability for nursing home residents to receive visitors. In short, it allows for more outdoor and indoor visits, including parameters where indoor visits are required to be permitted. CMS also announced that it will allow for CMP funds to be used to help visitation through the purchase of tents and clear barriers (e.g., Plexiglas).

The Virginia Healthcare Alerting and Status System (VHASS) sent a notice with its latest daily situation report noting that going forward VHASS reporting will be changing to Monday – Friday weekday reporting, with no weekend updates.

If you have a need and/or an emergency, please update VHASS and contact your regional healthcare coalition (RHCC). Long Term Care VHASS reports will be emailed out Tuesday – Saturday moving forward.

Understanding the Medicaid Application Process and Its Impact on Cash Flow