Issue date: March 31th, 2022

Here are some home health related updates for this week:

AMITY’S NEWS

Webinar: Burnout and Compassion Fatigue: New Perspectives for Care Providers, Teams, and Healthcare Organizations

Burnout and compassion fatigue affect the entire organization as well as the patients served. This presentation is intended to give clinicians and non-clinicians alike a new perspective on how to care for themselves, each other, and take ownership of creating a welcoming and healthier workplace for all.

Learning objective:

1. Understand definitions and implications of burnout and compassion fatigue on direct care providers in the healthcare industry.
2. Identify the role of the team and organization in cultivating a culture that helps create a “shield” against burnout and compassion fatigue.
3. Brainstorm ways to increase care satisfaction within yourself, your team, and your organization to improve staff retention and quality of care for the patients you serve.

Meanwhile, on Monday, March 28, 2022, CMS stated that to allow time to complete the identified discrepancies, CMS have decided for the April 2022 refresh, to publish the same Services Provided data for each Home Health Agency that was posted on Care Compare for the January 2022 refresh as the way to publish the most accurate Services Provided data at this time.

Furthermore, CMS provided recommendations for the providers experiencing issues locating agency’s HHA Provider Preview Report as follows:

Only active users with login credentials to iQIES as of the distribution date of the HHA Provider Preview reports for the April 2022 refresh will have the report in their HHA Provider Preview Report folder.

1. If you are a new user of iQIES and received your iQIES login credentials after the February 23, 2022, distribution of the HHA Provider Preview reports, please contact the iQIES Help Desk for assistance (see iQIES Help Desk contact information below).
2. Inform the help desk staff that you are a new user of iQIES since the HHA Provider Preview reports for the April 2022 refresh were made available. The iQIES help desk team will gather the necessary information from you including such things as your agency’s CMS Certification Number (CCN) and will then make the report for your agency available to you in the HHA Provider Preview Reports folder in iQIES.
3. Follow the steps below to locate your agency’s report in the HHA Provider Preview Report folder.

Existing Users

If you were an active user prior to the February 23, 2022, distribution of the HHA Provider Preview Reports but you cannot locate your report, please follow the steps below:

1. Log into iQIES at https://iqies.cms.gov
2. Select the My Reports option from the Reports menu
3. From the My Reports page, locate the HHA Provider Preview Reports folder.
4. NOTE: The folders and reports on the My Reports page are listed in alphabetic order so users may need to utilize the page forward functionality at the bottom of the webpage to advance to the page where the folder is located. Alternatively, users may change the default number of rows that display on the webpage from 10 to a larger number to view the larger list of items.
5. Select the HHA Provider Preview Reports link to open the folder.
6. To locate the latest HHA Provider Preview report, select the down arrow adjacent to the Created Date label at the top of the table. This will order the reports in the folder from newest to oldest.
7. Select the report file with the following label: Preview of Home Health Agency Quality Measure Scores To Be Posted on Care Compare (April 2022)_Updated [provider’s CCN will display after the word Updated].
8. Once the report is open, users will notice the Services Provided information displayed beneath their agency’s demographic information at the top of the report.

With additional questions, please contact the iQIES Help Desk by phone at (800) 339-9313 or by email at iQIES@cms.hhs.gov.

At this time, OSHA is requesting stakeholder comments on changes to the ETS. As per the Federal Register issued on March 23, 2022, potential changes from the ETS include:

• Alignment with CDC recommendations for healthcare infection control practices
  • OSHA is considering whether it is appropriate to align its final rule with some or all the current CDC recommendations
• Additional flexibility for employers
  • OSHA is considering restating various provisions as broader requirements without the level of detail included in the Healthcare ETS and providing a “safe harbor” enforcement policy for employers.
• Removal of scope exemptions (e.g., ambulatory care facilities where covid-19 patients are screened out; home healthcare)
  • OSHA is considering whether the scope of the final standard should cover employers regardless of screening procedures for non-employees and/or vaccination status of employees.
• Tailoring controls to address interactions with people with suspected or confirmed covid-19
  • OSHA is considering the need for COVID-19-specific infection control measures in areas where healthcare employees are not expected to encounter people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
• Booster doses, employer support of employee vaccination, and requirements for vaccinated workers; although OSHA is not considering at this time requiring mandatory vaccination for employees
  • OSHA is considering an adjustment to the requirement that would include paid time up to 4 hours, including travel time, for employees to receive a vaccine and paid sick leave to recover from side effects.
  • OSHA is considering whether to limit the provisions that provide support for vaccination to employees not covered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccination rule.
  • OSHA is considering suggestions that requirements be relaxed: for masking, barriers, or physical distancing for vaccinated workers in all areas of healthcare settings, not just where there is no reasonable expectation that someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 will be present.
• Limited coverage of construction activities in healthcare settings
  • OSHA is considering the same coverage for workers engaged in construction work inside a hospital.
• New cap for covid-19 log retention period
  • OSHA proposes to cap the record retention period for the COVID-19 log at one year from the date of the last entry in the log.
• Triggering requirements based on the level of community transmission
  • OSHA is considering linking regulatory requirements to measures of local risk, such as CDC’s community transmission used in CDC’s guidance for healthcare settings.
• Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 into a Second Novel Strain
  • OSHA is considering specifying that this final standard would apply not only to COVID-19, but also to subsequent related strains of the virus that are transmitted through aerosols and pose similar risks and health effects.

Source: NAHC Report March 23, 2022

Public comments are due April 22, 2022. A virtual public hearing will begin on April 27, 2022 and may continue on subsequent days, if necessary.

Individuals interested in testifying at the hearing must submit their notice of intention to appear by April 6, 2022. Before the hearing, OSHA will make the hearing procedures and hearing schedule available on this webpage.

• Level 3 Surgical Gowns (40 per case).
• Level 1 Isolation Gowns (100 per case).
• Universal Face Shields (amount per case varies).
• Disinfecting Wipes (12 packages per case).
• Disposable Goggles (150 per case).

Items will be shipped to your location at no cost. Shipping times may vary depending on location and amount of PPE requested. There is a minimum order quantity of one case on all orders.

To request any of the above PPE items, please complete State of Colorado PPE Request Form

Please note: * This program may end at any time.

Additional questions can be directed to Dhsem_ppe@state.co.us.

Please reach out to cdphe.hfemsd.eta@state.co.us with any additional questions that you may have.

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