As seen in McKnight's article, CMS: Educate, vaccinate and be ready to prove it, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will start enforcing their Interim Final Rule for COVID-19 Vaccination the week of June 14. Officially effective May 17, CMS is motivated to get staff vaccination rates up to 75 percent. Here's what's expected for both residents and staff.

1. Offer COVID-19 vaccines
2. Educate on COVID-19 and document efforts
3. Report COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutic treatments each week to the National Health and Safety Network (NHSN) 

The data collected will also be posted on the agency’s COVID-19 Nursing Home Data website as soon as possible, likely in mid-June.

Said Evan Shulman, CMS’ director for its Division of Nursing Homes, "For starters, let’s remember that the intent of this is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible." He continued, "So, we will likely start prioritizing those individuals who are not vaccinated and start asking them how they were educated and if they were offered the vaccine.”

In other words, your first priority should be reporting who has received the vaccination, as those who aren't even achieving that goal are likely to be targeted first for audits. Next up, make meaningful attempts to educate residents and staff on vaccine safety – and track these efforts. Following are some educational resources that may be of help.

Webinars & Training

• COVID-19 vaccine safety monitoring - World Health Organization (WHO)
• AHA’s Newest COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Resources Include Video, Webinar and Infographic - American Hospital Association (AHA)
• COVID-19 Vaccination in Long-Term Care: Safety, Efficacy, and Residents’ Rights - NursingHome411.org
• Vaccination for COVID-19 QuickPATH - Pathway Health

Videos

• Is the COVID-19 Vaccine Safe? - National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• 9 COVID-19 Myths Debunked - Cleveland Clinic
• Your COVID-19 vaccine questions answered - Mayo Clinic
• COVID-19 Vaccines: How Do We Know They Are Safe? - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Resources

• Tips for Building Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines Among Patients
• COVID-19 Vaccination Communication Toolkit
• COVID-19 Vaccination Training Programs and Reference Materials
• Importance of COVID-19 Vaccination for Healthcare Personnel

Other Resources

• Invest in Trust: A Guide for Building COVID-19 Vaccine Trust and Increasing Vaccination Rates Among CNAs- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
• Patient education: COVID-19 vaccines - UpToDate.com Doctor Team
• COVID-19 vaccines: Get the facts (Q&A) – Mayo Clinic

In related news, long-term advocates encourage senior living caregivers to begin planning for the possibility of giving COVID-19 boosters. If you don't already have a good grip on vaccination tracking, know that technology can help. Our primeVIEW facility dashboard now has the ability to track which residents have received COVID-19 vaccinations.

In our recent webinar, executive panelists from Health Dimensions Group (HDG), SageLife, and Titan Healthcare Solutions joined our tech expert, Jonathan Duvall to discuss what senior care providers should take forward from this time of forced management innovation. We've simplified these takeaways into an infographic for your quick read.

A key theme heard repeatedly was for operators to have real-time access to data to track and trend what's going on in each of these key areas. As our clients at HDG have learned, technology can help. We would love to show you exactly how our primeVIEW dashboard can be there for you – today, or in times of crisis.

In good news, the CDC says those vaccinated for COVID-19 do not need to wear masks – even indoors. If trading masks for the vaccine doesn't sway staff, you may wonder how others are driving vaccine acceptance.

A recent McKnight's article, Mandate staff vaccines or promote them with a $1K bonus? compares Jewish Senior Services' decision to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine to The Gardens at DePugh Nursing Center's offer of a $1000 bonus, which helped them achieve a 92% vaccination rate.

Adding to that, we've put together a summary of how other organizations are getting it done based on an article from Becker's Hospital Review, 15 employers, hospitals rewarding workers to get COVID-19 vaccines.

Additionally, take look at our previous infographic, 9 Tactics for COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance in Nursing Homes.

These tactics come at a good time, given CMS' release Tuesday of a new rule, asking requires long-term care facilities to report weekly COVID-19 vaccination data for residents and staff.  

For those of you using our primeVIEW KPI dashboard, you now have the ability to track COVID-19 vaccinations across residents. If you're not using primeVIEW, request a demo. Vaccinations aren't the only critical measurement it tracks!

In a May 5 article, 'CMS let the cat out of the bag, but it’s managed care that’s ready to pounce,' McKnight's Long-Care News recapped critical points from our recent Managed Care Webinar: Goodbye PDPM, Hello Levels! with Mix Solutions.

• Webinar poll: 42% of attendees said they’d already had to convert at least some contracts from PDPM to levels.
• Susie Mix: "They (the plans) are very aggressive in not only cutting our rates 30% to 40%, but they’re also very aggressive in starting this right now."

If you missed advice offered during our webinar, there's still time to tune in.

In an April 19 article, Ransomware ‘bull’s eye’ grows, clouding telehealth’s rise in long-term care, McKnight's Long-Care News recapped suggestions from Prime Care Tech's Mark Owens.

• Providers pursue a multipronged approach to data protection, with a "modern and managed firewall" with:
  
  • Geo-blocking to limit access to out-of-area attackers
  • Access that is restricted to specific users and departments
  • Backups that are stored on separate servers in different locations.

• Facilities require repeated employee training about IT security, keeping in mind the going rate for resale of medical records is about $250 per record.

Related resources:

• On-Demand Webinar: Want to Avoid Cyber Sharks? Swim with the School
• Cyber Security Audit: 10-Point Check
• Willis Towers Watson: Insurance Marketplace Realities 2021 Spring Update – Cyber risk