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CDC Issues Guidance for Masking in Health Care Settings
NAHC
The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) has issued revised guidance for Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Healthcare Personnel During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic .
The guidance applies to all health care settings and provides a framework to implement select infection prevention and control practices based on their individual circumstances. Specifically, CDC added an appendix to assist facilities with how and when to implement broader use of source control (masking). CDC also announced that it will no longer be collecting information needed to track the community transmission rates of COVID-19.
There are several considerations that CDC addresses that will help guide when a broad use of masking in the healthcare settings should be implemented.
- The types of patients cared for in their facility.
- Input from stakeholders.
- Reviewing plans with stakeholders including patient and family groups and healthcare personnel can help determine the most appropriate infection control practices for staff and patients.
- Facilities might tier their interventions based on the population they serve. For example, facilities might consider a lower threshold for action in areas of the facility primarily caring for patients at highest risk for severe outcomes (e.g., cancer clinics, transplant units). Home health and hospice agencies might consider establishing policies for masking when caring for patients with a high risk for contracting infectious diseases.
- Plans from other facilities in the jurisdiction with whom the facility shares patients.
- Some jurisdictions might consider a coordinated approach for all facilities in the jurisdiction. Input from local hospitals and other healthcare providers can help inform the agency’s policy for masking.
- What data are available to make decisions.
- Facilities and jurisdictions might have access to more granular data for their jurisdiction to help guide efforts locally. Agencies should work with their local public health departments for community transmission data.
Unfortunately, with the end of the public health emergency, CDC will no longer receive data needed to publish Community Transmission levels for SARS-CoV-2. CDC will continue to collect and report SARS-CoV-2 hospital admissions data on the CDC COVID Data Tracker, although not as accurate as community transmission levels for COVID-19 surveillance. These data continue to be available at the county level and are used by CDC to help the public decide when masking in the community should be considered.
CDC is in the early stages of developing metrics that could be used to guide when to implement select infection prevention and control practices for multiple respiratory viruses. Data on the exact metric thresholds that correspond with a higher risk for transmission are lacking. In addition, data from these systems are generally not available for all jurisdictions. |
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Hospice Special Focus Program Proposal Expected This Summer
The Health Group
The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2021 authorized the Secretary of Health & Human Services to create a Special Focus Program (SFP) which aims to address issues that place hospice beneficiaries at risk for poor quality of care through increased oversight and/or technical assistance. According to CMS, the SFP will help to ensure hospices in the program are held accountable for poor quality of care.
CMS has indicated that a proposal for the structure of the SFP would be included in the home health proposed rules, which is generally issued in mid-summer.
CMS contracted with Abt Associates, Inc. (Abt), an independent research company, to support the development of the hospice SFP. To gain input from key stakeholders on various aspects of the SFP, Abt convened a TEP comprised of a wide range of hospice experts and held four listening sessions with additional stakeholder groups. The TEP and stakeholders opined on the SFP methodology to identify poor performing hospices and other components of the program, including additional oversight and technical assistance to hospices selected for the program to enable continuous improvement.
On April 28, 2023, Abt Associates, Inc. issued their report entitled “2022 Technical Expert Panel and Stakeholder Listening Sessions: Hospice Special Focus Program Summary Report.” The report is available here.
The SFP is only one (1) of the many efforts directed at hospice program integrity. Hospices need to remain aware of developments regarding SFP as well as other current and planned hospice integrity initiatives of CMS. |
NAHC Safety Task Force
National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) and Johns Hopkins Care at Home (JHCH) welcome comments on the drafted home care employee safety guide from NAHC members and other expert individuals.
NAHC Safety Task Force has come together to address the uniqueness and unpredictability of home care worker safety by creating a Call to Action: Protecting our Home Care Employees, a starting point for recommendations within an employee safety plan.
To further strengthen our unified mission and goal to improve employee safety for those working in the home and community, we invite you to participate in an open comment period to share your feedback and recommendations.
The open comment period will occur from May 1, 2023, to June 2, 2023.
Submit Feedback
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Denial Rates Rising Thanks to Home Health Cuts, Dombi, Cunningham Say
McKnight’s Home Care
As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services prepares to release its proposed home health rule for calendar year 2024, providers are holding out hope that CMS will omit any further rate cuts. In this McKnight’s Home Care Newsmakers podcast, National Association for Home Care & Hospice President William Dombi and Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare CEO Joanne Cunningham talked about their efforts to stop any reductions. They also discussed how the 3.925% permanent cut that went into effect in January has had significant effects on hospital-to-home-health conversation rates.
Listen to Podcast |
It’s Mental Health Awareness Month
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a good time to think about ways in which you can protect your mental health, including taking steps to manage stress.
Long-term stress can contribute to or worsen many mental and physical health problems. But fortunately, there are ways to counteract its effects. We have access to a built-in “stress reset button” that acts as an antidote to stress. It’s called the relaxation response. It’s the opposite of your body’s response to stress. The relaxation response slows your heart rate, lowers your blood pressure, and decreases oxygen consumption and levels of stress hormones.
By learning simple techniques that produce the relaxation response—such as progressive muscle relaxation, simple mindfulness exercises, and slow, deep breathing—you can help prevent stress from building up. That’s good for both your mind and your body.
Learn More About Stress |
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