CMS tweaks COVID-19 vaccine memos to clarify survey process

CMS continues to gradually end some emergency blanket waivers allowed under the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) for some providers, but for now the 1135 waivers remain intact for acute care and critical access hospitals. The current 90-day PHE declaration, effective through April 16, could be renewed as early as next week. However, there is a new note recently added atop HHS’ online list of PHE declarations.

Surveyors on site for a Life Safety Code®-only complaint or LSC-only follow-up survey are not expected to check for compliance with the new requirements to vaccinate healthcare workers against COVID-19, according to recently updated CMS memos.

Emma Moore felt cornered. At a community health clinic in Portland, Oregon, the 29-year-old nurse practitioner said she felt overwhelmed and undertrained. Coronavirus patients flooded the clinic for two years, and Moore struggled to keep up.

Then the stakes became clear. On March 25, about 2,400 miles away in a Tennessee courtroom, former nurse RaDonda Vaught was convicted of two felonies and facing eight years in prison for a fatal medication mistake.

Preventing medical errors requires people to come forward when those errors are made, IHI says. Otherwise, how else will healthcare organizations know there’s a problem? But nurses and other healthcare providers will be less likely to admit to an error if they fear it will send them to prison.

While I don’t doubt that we will revisit this topic at some point in the not-too-distant future, there’s been a confluence (small pun intended) of recent materials relating to the management of waterborne pathogens.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently issued guidance for the formulation of threat assessment and management teams. “Through identifying and managing potential threats, these teams provide alternatives to investigation and/or prosecution for bystanders who are actively seeking intervention assistance with a known individual at risk of mobilizing to violence,” Homeland Security officials report.

Threat assessment and management teams are proactive and protective measures that are designed to prevent—not predict—potential acts of targeted violence and terrorism, according to Homeland Security.

Risks in the laboratory can be split into two categories, says Sean G. Kaufman, CEO and founding partner of the lab safety company Safer Behaviors. First, he says, are the physical and environmental risks that will always be a part of the job no matter what. These represent inherent risks.

Did you read the stories from the March MEU, and how well do you remember it? Test your knowledge with this short quiz.

Ukraine is not the only place with an ongoing military conflict. Fighting in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Ethiopia also forced many people to flee their homelands. Even when a country is technically at peace, its people may still seek asylum from authoritarian, criminal, or genocidal regimes. Many Russian citizens have fled their country ahead of a crackdown on free speech and political opposition.

As more of those refugees arrive in the United States, American healthcare systems and providers will need to be better trained and educated on the issues facing asylum seekers and refugee patients. Quality care will require understanding and compassion for patients who’ve already been through a great deal of trauma.

Expect surveyors to take a closer look at the fire safety precautions in hospital surgical and hyperbaric suites, especially once new elements of performance (EP) from The Joint Commission (TJC) go into effect in July.

What charts or other medical information, including closed records, can you could expect a Joint Commission surveyor to ask for during survey?