Late last week, AHCA/NCAL received a handful of reports of BD Analyzers producing COVID-19 false positives with staff and residents. AHCA/NCAL is working closely with LeadingAge, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and BD Veritor leadership to investigate these preliminary reports, determine the extent of the issue, and understand the cause(s).

 

AHCA/NCAL has shared an update of developments to-date and what the groups are doing jointly.

 

Members should continue to use these POC tests but are encouraged to follow the CDC guidance and algorithm with details about when to conduct confirmation testing of positive antigen tests.

 

You are also encouraged to conduct confirmation testing with PCR tests in other situations not covered by CDC guidance where asymptomatic residents or staff test positive with the antigen tests given the recent reports of false positives. 

 

If asymptomatic residents test positive with a POC antigen test, they should be placed into transmission-based precautions and single room if possible but not moved to a COVID-19 (+) or cohorted with a known positive resident until confirmation testing with PCR is obtained. 

On September 15 McKesson is hosting a webinar on the HHS Program for COVID-19 testing in skilled nursing facilities and the BD Veritor System for Rapid Detection of SARS-COV-2

The event is intended for administrators, directors of nursing, and corporate clinical leaders.

 

September 15, 2020 | 3:00 – 3:30 pm

On Friday, September 11, the US Department of Labor (DOL) issued an update to the temporary rule it issued in April regarding coronavirus leave. This update changes the definition of health care workers. Employees defined as health care workers are not required to have paid sick leave. Other employees of providers are required to have paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave. The details of the updated definitions and requirements are provided below. This applies to employers with fewer than 500 employees. Aggregation of employees across locations is possible in certain instances. This rule applies to nursing facilities and all long term care facilities which would include IDD and assisted living providers that meet the definitions in the rule.

 

This revision was issued in response to a district court decision in New York which found part of the original rule invalid. The revisions impact the definition of a health care provider which can be exempted from paid leave and emergency family and medical leave expansion act (EFMLEA) requirements. The new definition is limited to those providing health care services and those reporting to health care providers. This definition includes employees who may not directly interact with patients but provide services that are integrated with and necessary for the provision of patient care. Examples of duties considered necessary for patient care include bathing, dressing, and feeding a patient/resident who cannot perform the activity independently. For assisted living, this could include direct care providers, CNAs, personal care assistants, or other titles providing direct care to residents. Previously, all employees, regardless of job activity, in a health care facility were included in the broad definition of health care provider and thus excluded from the paid leave requirements.

 

DOL defines covered employees as “employees who do not provide health care services, even if their services could affect the provision of health care services.” Examples include building maintenance staff, human resources personnel, cooks, food services workers, and records and billing staff.

 

Covered paid sick leave for non-health care staff includes: 

 

EFMLEA for non-health care staff includes: 

 

Currently, the coronavirus leave requirements are in place through December 31, 2020. Members should familiarize themselves with these new requirements which go into effect on Wednesday, September 16, 2020.

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