Insights & Resources

On May 1, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule with comment period that establishes new COVID-19 reporting requirements for long term care (LTC) facilities. The new requirements will be effective as of Friday, May 8, 2020, upon publication in the Federal Register. CMS also delayed the compliance date of the Transfer of Health (TOH) Information Quality Measures and Certain Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements (SPADEs).

Electronic Reporting of COVID-19 in a Standardized Format under an Infection and Prevention Control Program
 

• CMS has established explicit reporting requirements for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases that require facilities to electronically report information about COVID-19 in a standardized format to their state or local agency. Reports must include, but are not limited to, information about the following:
  • Suspected and confirmed COVID-19 infections among residents and staff, including residents previously treated for COVID-19;
  • Total deaths and COVID-19 deaths among residents and staff;
  • Personal protective equipment and hand hygiene supplies in the facility;
  • Ventilator capacity and supplies in the facility;
  • Resident beds and census;
  • Access to COVID-19 testing while the resident is in the facility;
  • Staffing shortages; and
  • Other information specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Reporting to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)
 

• Facilities are required to provide the information specified above to the NHSN at a frequency specified by the Secretary, but no less than weekly.

 

• These new reporting requirements do not relieve LTC faculties of the obligation to continue to report possible incidents of communicable disease and infections.

Requirements for COVID-19 Notifications to Residents and Their Representatives
 

• Facilities must inform residents, their representatives, and families by 5:00 P.M. the next calendar day following the occurrence of either:?
  • A single confirmed infection of COVID-19; or
  • Three (3) or more residents or staff with new-onset of respiratory symptoms that occur within seventy two (72) hours of each other.

 

• The information provided to residents, their representatives and families must:
  • Not include personally identifiable information, and be reported in accordance with existing privacy regulations;
  • Include information on mitigating actions implemented to prevent or reduce the risk of transmission, including if normal operations of the facility will be altered; and
  • Include any cumulative updates for residents, their representatives and families at least weekly or by 5:00 P.M. the next calendar day following the subsequent occurrence of either (i) a confirmed infection of COVID-19, or (ii) whenever three (3) or more residents or staff with new onset of respiratory symptoms occur within seventy two (72) hours of each other.

 

• For purposes of this reporting requirement, facilities are not expected to make individual telephone calls. Instead, facilities may utilize communication mechanisms that make the information easily available to all residents, their representatives, and families, such as paper notification, listservs, website postings, and/or recorded telephone messages.

Delay in the Compliance Date of the Transfer of Health (TOH) Information Measures and Certain Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements (SPADEs) Adopted for the SNF QRP

• TOH Information Measures. SNFs must begin collecting data on the TOH Information Measures beginning with discharges on October 1st of the year that is at least two (2) full fiscal years after the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). (Example: If the COVID-19 PHE ends on September 20, 2020, SNFs will be required to begin collecting data on these measures beginning with patients discharged on October 1, 2022).

 

• SPADEs. SNFs must begin collecting data on the SPADEs beginning with admissions and discharges (except for the hearing, vision, race, and ethnicity SPADEs, which would be collected for admissions only) on October 1st of the year that is at least two (2) full fiscal years after the end of the COVID-19 PHE.

Click here to see the Interim Final Rule.
Should you have any questions regarding the above, please contact the Garfunkel Wild attorney with whom you regularly work, or contact us at info@garfunkelwild.com.