On April 19, 2020, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a memorandum announcing upcoming new requirements for notification of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 infections among residents and staff in nursing homes. The CMS memorandum highlights the current communicable disease reporting requirements and the new notification requirements.
CDC Reporting Requirement: CMS plans to require that nursing homes report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) data about residents or staff with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, residents with severe respiratory infection resulting in hospitalization or death, or three or more residents or staff with new-onset respiratory symptoms within 72 hours of each other.
- Nursing homes will be provided with specific direction on standard formatting and frequency for reporting this information through the CDC’s National Health Safety Network.
Resident and Resident Representative Reporting: CMS plans to require that nursing homes inform residents and their representatives within 12 hours of the occurrence of a single confirmed infection of COVID-19, or three or more residents or staff with new-onset of respiratory symptoms that occur within 72 hours.
- Updates to residents and their representatives must then be provided weekly, or each subsequent time a confirmed infection of COVID-19 is identified and/or whenever three or more residents or staff with new onset of respiratory symptoms occurs within 72 hours.
- Nursing homes will be required to include information on mitigating actions implemented to prevent or reduce the risk of transmission, including if normal operations in the nursing home will be altered.
Enforcement: Failure to report or provide timely notification as described above could result in an enforcement action by CMS against a nursing home.
Should you have any questions regarding the above, please contact the Garfunkel Wild attorney with whom you regularly work, or contact us at [email protected].