News

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn, Associated Clinic of Psychology

Acknowledging what is right in front of us seems easy enough. We’re living through the shared experience of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.  However, on a regular basis, we tend to move through even the most difficult situations without acknowledging the huge impact it’s having on all of us.

Today, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) started distributing payments to providers who applied for phase three of the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) general distribution. Nationally, they are distributing $24.5 billion to more than 70,000 health care providers. The basis for the payments is half of the reported lost revenue and increased expenses from the first half of this year.  Combined with previous PRF payments this is designed to cover the majority of the lost revenue and higher expenses experienced by health care providers through June.

The MN Department of Health (MDH) plans to post more data to its website about the impact of COVID-19 on nursing homes and assisted living settings than it is posting now.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) recently released guidance for Adult Day Centers relating to policies and processes for confirmed cases of COVID-19 amongst staff and participants. The new guidance must be added to each center’s COVID-19 Preparedness Plans and includes the following elements:

Two COVID-19 vaccines are close to being approved for Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA. To help you prepare staff and residents for vaccination availability, here are some tools to customize.

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn, Associated Clinic of Psychology

Our focus this week is on providing small doses of nurturing—for yourself and your team— in order to build resilience for all. In addition to the compliments we discussed in last week’s article, a focus on what’s most nurturing at a basic level can be very helpful to restore a sense of comfort in the most difficult times.

Safe Care Vaccine Campaign Underway

The COVID-19 vaccine is coming, but we know that it will not be effective if people don’t get vaccinated.  Over the coming weeks we will be promoting the importance of getting vaccinated through the Safe Care for Seniors Living the Pledge Campaign.

CMS last week posted updates to several nursing home survey tools and documents:

Information is circulating that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is updating its quarantine guidance to say quarantine can be shortened to 7 days if the individual is asymptomatic and has a COVID negative test.

Long-term care providers were asked to sign up with a pharmacy partner to administer vaccines to residents when a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available. The PPP program sign-up deadline has passed and LeadingAge Minnesota recently received several questions about what to do if an organization was unable to sign up for the PPP program within previous deadline.

If you have not signed up with a pharmacy vaccine partner and would still like to, please email MDH at health.covid.vaccine@state.mn.us as soon as possible.  MDH and CDC would like this finalized by the end of day on Friday, Dec. 4, 2020.

Due to the overlapping mandates for testing of staff and residents during outbreaks and of staff based on the positivity rate in the county, the Long-term Care Imperative has been working with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the Department of Human Services (DHS) on clarifying how staff testing should be billed when both requirements apply.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) shared updated information this week on the issue of whether a healthcare worker who experiences a high risk exposure to COVID-19, but who is asymptomatic and has not tested positive for the virus, may return to work prior to the end of his or her 14-day quarantine if staffing needs are acute. The information is consistent with prior guidance from MDH, but we want to be sure members have access to the latest published standards on this and on the related issue of asymptomatic staff who have tested positive.

Our focus this week is on “Recognizing Wins” via complimenting and expressing appreciation. During a time when the “right” course is often illusive even when working hard to avoid making mistakes, people need to be reminded when they are doing well. More importantly, people need to hear they are a valuable member of your team. This helps us all keep going despite the significant stress.

The recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Minnesota has had a significant impact on long-term care, after many months of reduced cases and deaths after the spring wave. The new wave has created unprecedented staffing challenges for providers due to infected and exposed staff needing to miss work, and the impact is being felt throughout the state as opposed to the mostly Twin Cities-based outbreaks in the spring. Deaths in long-term care have risen in recent months after being at very low levels for months.

Minnesota nursing homes may be receiving calls with questions and offers of assistance from CMS, CDC, or Superior Health, the Medicare Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) serving Minnesota. The LeadingAge national team recently passed along this information from CMS about non-regulatory outreach currently underway:

In recognition of severe staffing shortages facing assisted living providers and nursing homes in Minnesota, the Chief of Staff to Governor Walz yesterday sent a message to 36,000 state employees, asking them to consider volunteering for a potential redeployment to help long-term care residents and facilities at some point in the future. “We could need assistance in communities across the state, particularly in Greater Minnesota,” the message noted. “Facilities could make use of any RNs, LPNs, or Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs). No prior experience is required. If needed, we will provide CNA training prior to deployment.”

Late yesterday, DHS released a memo that suspends the physician signature requirement for the single room rate differential. It also allows the charging of a differential to private pay without advance notice. The waiver applies only for the fourteen day quarantine period for new admissions or residents returning from leave, and it is in place through the end of the state public health emergency.

There have been many questions regarding quarantine periods in long-term care communities over the past several weeks. In order to clarify, here is information about the quarantine period for staff in various circumstances:

Compilations of lessons learned from the early months of the pandemic were launched recently from LeadingAge and from CMS.

Guest contributor Alyson VanAhn, PhD, Associated Clinic of Psychology

The COVID-19 era has made life exponentially more challenging for all of us. This may be particularly true for those of you who are charged with keeping others at their best in a workplace that brings chronic stress. Today’s focus is on resilience-building/stress-reducing strategies for leaders who want to build up their teams and themselves—even when not feeling at their best. This is the first in a series of articles that will focus on resilience strategies leaders can share with their teams to improve quality of work life despite the ongoing pandemic and the stressors that come with it.