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COVID-19 Update: May 14, 2020

COVID-19 update for Thursday, May 14as of 2:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

Governor Wolf

The Wolf administration released an updated Carnegie Mellon University Risk-Based Decision Support Tool report for May 12.  The support tool is used when making decisions about which Pennsylvania counties to reopen.

Department of Health

On its message board for licensed entities (go here and click “message board”), the Department of Health sent the following reminder to skilled nursing facilities:

As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, the Department is aware that some skilled nursing care facilities may struggle with adequate staffing.  Despite this challenge, the facility remains responsible for providing adequate care and maintaining a safe environment for residents.  The Department will continue to uphold its regulatory responsibilities but will not cite a facility based solely on a request for assistance from federal, state, and local resources such as the National Guard, the Department’s consultant, ECRI, Inc., or others. The Department expects facilities to reach out for assistance during this unprecedented time.

Department of Health Daily Briefing

  • With 275 new deaths to report, most of which are the result of reconciling past case data, Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 death toll now exceeds 4000 people. All were adults.
  • More than 12,600 residents of long-term-care facilities and nearly 2000 employees in those facilities have tested positive for COVID-19, as have more than 4000 health care workers.
  • Secretary Levine discussed strategies for pediatricians to provide well-child visits and ensure that children stay current with their immunizations.
  • Department of Health officials are contacting the state’s six children’s hospitals about whether they have seen any cases of a COVID-19-related inflammatory syndrome that shows similar symptoms to Kawasaki disease, which is a childhood illness. Despite published reports, Secretary Levine said she is unaware of any such cases in the state.
  • Secretary Levine announced that CVS will begin performing drive-through testing at some of its locations using self-swabs. She does not know the criteria CVS will employ for whom it tests.  Rite Aid testing locations will test anyone.
  • Secretary Levine said there have been no troubling spikes in case counts in counties that have moved from red to yellow but warned that only five days have passed since those reopenings.
  • Next week the state will begin considering criteria for moving counties and regions from yellow to green.
  • Secretary Levine expressed no opinion when asked about HAP’s complaints about the governor’s veto of telehealth legislation, the state helping hospitals with loans instead of grants, and other matters.
  • The state has no plans to reopen any areas on anything less than a county-wide area.

Department of Human Services

  • DHS reissued its comprehensive guidance document for hospitals to reflect a requirement to test patients for COVID-19 prior to discharge to a nursing care facility, personal care home, or assisted living residence.
  • DHS issued new guidance documents for nursing homes summarizing several recent health alerts on topics such as testing protocols for residents returning from a hospital, cohorting patients, and periodic screening of residents and staff. Find those documents here and here.

Federal Update

Department of Health and Human Services

HHS is sending out its largest distribution of remdesivir this week. As of this week, HHS will have sent out 40 percent of its current supply.  The drug is being sent to state health departments, which will distribute it to hospitals.   Hospitals are being asked to update their data on COVID and suspected COVID inpatients and ICU patients on a weekly basis via the teletracking portal.  The next deadline is Monday, May 18 at midnight.  Once the federal supply is exhausted the federal government will not receive any additional donated doses of the drug.

Federal Emergency Management Agency

FEMA has updated its policy on COVID-19 medical costs eligible for public assistance under the agency’s FEMA Public Assistance Program. Eligible recipients for these funds include state, local, tribal, and territorial entities and certain private, non-profit organization-owned and/or operated medical facilities.

Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued a policy memorandum describing temporary policy changes for certain foreign medical graduates during the COVID-19 emergency.  The temporary policy addresses situations in which H-1B foreign medical graduates are temporarily unable to work full-time due to quarantine, illness, travel restrictions, or other consequences of the pandemic during the COVID-19 emergency.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

CMS has issued a new toolkit on state actions and best practices to mitigate the prevalence of COVID-19 in nursing homes.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

OSHA has issued an alert with information to keep nursing home and long-term care facility workers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

SAMHSA is inviting applications for $40 million in grants to support states and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic in advancing efforts to prevent suicide and suicide attempts among adults 25 and older in order to reduce the overall suicide rate and number of suicides in the United States.

National Institutes of Health

The NIH announced that a clinical trial has begun to evaluate whether hydroxychloroquine, given together with the antibiotic azithromycin, can prevent hospitalization and death from COVID-19.

Food and Drug Administration

  • On Friday, May 15, the FDA will hold a virtual town hall for researchers, clinical laboratories, and commercial manufacturers to discuss the production and use of 3D-printed swabs during the COVID-19 crisis. Learn more here.
  • The FDA has issued EUAs for four specific commercial diagnostic tests for COVID-19; find them here, here, here, and here.

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at  info@pasafetynet.org.)

 

2020-05-15T08:35:31+00:00May 15th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: May 14, 2020

COVID-19 Update: May 13, 2020

COVID-19 update for Wednesday, May 13 as of 2:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

Governor Wolf

Governor Wolf announced that gender identity, sexual orientation, and expression will be included in the state’s COVID-19 data collection.

Department of Health

The Department of Health announced its plans for distributing 1200 doses of remdesivir that it has received from the federal government.  See its announcement, including links to the department’s distribution formula and a list of the 51 recipient hospitals.

Department of Health Daily Briefing

  • The state’s new COVID-19 case count was down over the past 24 hours but the death count climbed as a result of continued reconciliation of past data.
  • More than 12,400 residents of long-term-care facilities and 1800 employees of those facilities have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
  • As have more than 4000 health care workers across the state.
  • Secretary Levine announced that the state has distributed more than 1200 doses of remdesivir, a drug that preliminary clinical trials suggest can help people recover from COVID-19 (see link above for the department’s formal announcement). The federal Department of Health and Human Services is managing distribution of the drug among the states and has assured that Pennsylvania will receive more in the future.
  • Pennsylvania now has the laboratory capacity to do much more testing.
  • The state is now able to test those who in the past were considered likely cases of COVID-19 but were not tested because of the scarcity of testing supplies.
  • But while the state’s goal is broad surveillance testing, that is not yet possible.

Department of Human Services

State Board of Medicine

The State Board of Medicine has suspended a regulation requiring physicians to provide paper prescriptions within 72 hours of issuing emergency prescriptions by telephone during the COVID-19 emergency.

Attorney General

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro has announced that his office has opened criminal investigations into “several” nursing homes for possible criminal neglect of patients and residents.

General Assembly

  • House Chamber of the State HouseYesterday the Senate unanimously passed SB 1122, which would appropriate $507 million in federal CARES Act money to state long-term care budget lines. This was added as an amendment to a bill that directed $34 million in CARES Act money to firefighters and EMS service.  Find further information in the fiscal note on the bill.
  • Senate leaders said that in light of the unpredictability of the COVID-19 pandemic and state revenues, they are working on a five-month state budget that would run from July through November and would therefore require additional budget legislation to cover state spending as of December 1, 2020.
  • House Speaker Mike Turzai has introduced HB 2510, the Senior Protection Act, which would spend $500 million in federal CARES Act money to address the spread of COVID-19 in long-term-care facilities. Unveiled earlier this week, the bill focuses on three areas: enhancing testing capabilities, infection control, and advancing clinical practices including the use of telemedicine.  According to the Speaker, this would be accomplished by utilizing Pennsylvania’s academic medical centers (AMC) to ensure greater protection of seniors.
  • The House is expected to return to session on Thursday, May 14.

Federal Update

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Food and Drug Administration

  • The FDA has issued emergency use authorization (EUA) for a commercial nurse call system for use by providers for remotely monitoring and communicating with patients on ventilators.

Government Accountability Office

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at  info@pasafetynet.org.)

2020-05-14T06:00:19+00:00May 14th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: May 13, 2020

COVID-19 Update: May 12, 2020

COVID-19 update for Tuesday, May 12 as of 3:00 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

Department of Health

The Department of Health has issued an advisory calling on skilled nursing facilities to develop and implement plans to perform COVID-19 tests on their residents and employees.

HospitalDepartment of Health Daily Briefing

  • Nearly 14,000 residents of long-term-care facilities and people who work at those facilities have now tested positive for COVID-19.
  • As have nearly 4000 other health care workers.
  • The state is introducing a new testing strategy for the residents and employees of skilled nursing facilities that calls for testing every resident of every such facility. All patients who are returning to such facilities from hospitals must be tested and then accommodated appropriately.  The Department of Health issued guidance on its new approach today.  This guidance, linked above, calls for different levels and frequency of testing for different facilities based on how many COVID-19 cases they have had and how recently they have had them.
  • Secretary Levine said the state is introducing this strategy now because it is the first time it has had sufficient access to testing supplies and equipment and laboratory resources to undertake such an effort.
  • She said the department also has directed skilled nursing facilities to report daily, starting May 17, on their testing activity and case counts. This information will be reported publicly.

Department of Human Services/Office of Long-Term Living

OLTL has issued a reminder to OLTL-regulated programs operating in counties that are moving from red to yellow that previous guidance that applied to those programs remains in effect.  Specifically:

Federal Update

Congress

House Democrats have unveiled their newest pandemic relief bill.  The overall bill is estimated to cost around $3 trillion.  A few of the health care provisions included in this bill are:

  • $100 billion for eligible health care providers to be distributed through the Health Care Provider Relief Fund. This is in addition to the $175 billion Congress has already appropriated for providers.  This bill would include a prescriptive and structured methodology for distribution of the Health Care Provider Relief Fund that would include, among other things:
  • quarterly relief funds based on hospital cost reports, with aid providers already received from the relief fund subtracted from the quarterly amount
  • eligibility to receive up to 60 percent of revenue lost in comparison to the previous year, to help compensate for pandemic-related expenses
  • a requirement that recipients not charge COVID-19 patients and not engage in balance billing
  • Reduces interests rates and lengthens the payback period for Part A and Part B advance payments.
  • $75 billion for testing, contact-tracing, and other activities.
  • Prohibits the administration from finalizing the Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule (MFAR) during the current public health emergency.
  • $7.6 billion to health centers.
  • $4.5 billion to NIH to expand COVID-10-related research.
  • $3 billion for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
  • Increases federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) 14 percentage points from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021.
  • Temporarily increases Medicaid DSH allotments to states by 2.5 percent.
  • Eliminates cost-sharing for most patients for COVID-19 treatment.

These are only a few of the health care provisions included in this sprawling bill.  You can find a summary of the bill here and the text of the bill here.

The House is expected to vote on the bill this Friday but the Senate is working on its own plan and is not expected to take up any new pandemic relief legislation until after Memorial Day.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Food and Drug Administration

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

OSHA issued an alert with information about helping to keep dental industry practitioners safe during the COVID-19 emergency. See the announcement here and the alert itself here.

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at  info@pasafetynet.org.)

 

 

2020-05-13T06:00:42+00:00May 13th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: May 12, 2020

COVID-19 Update: May 11, 2020

COVID-19 update for Monday, May 11 as of 2:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

Governor Wolf

Governor Wolf held a news conference during which he spoke about the state’s need to stay the course in the fight against COVID-19 and responded to the plans of certain Pennsylvania county officials to move their counties to the yellow phase of reopening on their own.  See his remarks here.

Department of Health

The Department of Health has posted revised guidance on COVID-19 for dental services.  The guidance revises past business closure orders and removes the prohibition against elective (non-urgent, non-emergency) dental procedures under specific conditions.

The department has posted a health alert with information about pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome, a condition potentially associated with COVID-19.  The alert calls for hospitals to report to the Department of Health any patients meeting clinical criteria consistent with this condition regardless of COVID-19 testing results.

Department of Health Daily Briefing

  • Secretary Levine reported 543 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. This is the lowest new case count in Pennsylvania since late March and only about half the number of new cases reported in recent days.  The Secretary warned, however, that case counts can be low the day after a holiday, noting that yesterday was mother’s day.
  • Among Pennsylvanians who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, more than 13,000 live or work in 540 long-term-care facilities located in 44 of the state’s 67 counties.
  • 3790 health care workers have tested positive for COVID-19.
  • Sixty-eight percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the state have been among residents of long-term-care facilities.
  • Starting today, Rite Aid is opening nine new drive-through testing sites in eastern Pennsylvania at which people can be tested without charge. These new sites are in addition to six similar Rite Aid sites already operating elsewhere in the state.
  • After receiving guidance from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the state will begin releasing facility-specific data on COVID-19 cases in long-term-care facilities later this week.
  • The Secretary said that the department should have information later this week about a plan for periodic testing at long-term-care facilities.
  • The state Department of Health has begun discussing with officials in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties the metrics it might employ to determine when it might be appropriate to begin reopening those areas.
  • The state has not yet begun developing criteria for moving counties or regions from the yellow phase to the green phase.

Federal Update

Department of Health and Human Services

  • HHS has announced its allocation plan for the distribution of the prescription drug remdesivir to treat patients with COVID-19. The initial shipments were to Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, and New Jersey.  The drug is being shipped to state health departments, which will decide how it will be distributed among hospitals.
  • HHS will base future distribution of remdesivir on hospitals’ active COVID-19 cases. For this reason, it is asking hospitals log on to the COVID-19 Web Portal at https://teletracking.protect.hhs.gov, using the same login information they recently used to provide year-to-date coronavirus-related admissions.  Once logged in, hospitals are asked to provide the number of currently hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and of those admissions, the number of currently hospitalized patients requiring placement in an intensive care unit as of May 10 or the date they are submitting this data, up to the submission deadline of 8:00 pm ET on Tuesday, May 12.  Hospitals will be asked to provide this information weekly so HHS can adjust to the changing national need for remdesivir.  Hospitals will receive additional information about future submissions later this week.  Find additional help about HHS’s teletracking portal here.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

  • CMS has updated its compendium of information about COVID-19 emergency declaration blanket waivers for health care providers. Changes include:
  • Expanded ability for hospitals to offer long-term-care services (swing beds) (p. 7).
  • Waiving of certain eligibility criteria for sole-community hospitals (p. 10) and Medicare-dependent hospitals (p. 10).
  • Reduced training requirements for long-term-care facility and nursing facility feeding assistants (p. 18).
  • Expanded scope of responsibilities for occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech language pathologists working for home health agencies (p. 19).
  • Changes in service delivery requirements for end-stage renal dialysis providers (p. 24).
  • Life-safety code waivers for hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and others (p. 26).

CMS Stakeholder Engagement Calls

CMS COVID-19 Office Hours Calls (Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:00 – 6:00 PM Eastern)

Office Hour Calls  provide an opportunity for hospitals, health systems, and providers to ask questions of agency officials regarding CMS’s temporary actions that empower local hospitals and healthcare systems to:

  • Increase Hospital Capacity – CMS Hospitals Without Walls;
  • Rapidly Expand the Healthcare Workforce;
  • Put Patients Over Paperwork; and
  • Further Promote Telehealth in Medicare

Tuesday, May 12th at 5:00 – 6:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial In: 833-614-0820;

Access Passcode: 8968295

Link to live audio webcast

Thursday, May 14th at 5:00 – 6:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial In: 833-614-0820;

Access Passcode: 5688374

Link to live audio webcast

Lessons from the Front Lines: COVID-19 (Fridays at 12:30 – 2:00 PM Eastern)

Lessons from the Front Lines  calls are a joint effort between CMS Administrator Seema Verma, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, MD, and the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Physicians and other clinicians are invited to share their experience, ideas, strategies, and insights with one another related to their COVID-19 response. There is an opportunity to ask questions of presenters.

This week’s Lessons from the Front Lines:

Friday, May 15th at 12:30 – 2:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 877-251-0301;

Access Code: 8983296

Link to live audio webcast

Weekly COVID-19 Care Site-Specific Calls

CMS hosts weekly calls for certain types of organizations to provide targeted updates on the agency’s latest COVID-19 guidance. One to two leaders in the field also share best practices with their peers. There is an opportunity to ask questions of presenters if time allows.

Home Health and Hospice (Tuesdays at 3:00 PM Eastern)

Tuesday, May 12th at 3:00 – 3:30 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820;

Access Passcode: 9503927

Link to live audio webcast

Nursing Homes (Wednesdays at 4:30 PM Eastern)

Wednesday, May 13th at 4:30 – 5:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820;

Access Passcode: 2675207

Link to live audio webcast

Dialysis Organizations (Wednesdays at 5:30 PM Eastern)

Wednesday, May 13th at 5:30 – 6:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820;

Access Passcode: 6772827

Link to live audio webcast

Nurses (Thursdays at 3:00 PM Eastern)

Thursday, May 14th at 3:00 – 3:30 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820;

Access Passcode: 4279137

Link to live audio webcast

Past Stakeholder Engagement Calls

Find links to audio versions of past stakeholder calls here.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Food and Drug Administration

Department of Labor

The Department of Labor has provided additional guidance to states on the federal pandemic unemployment compensation program. See its announcement and explanation here and the formal guidance itself here.

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at  info@pasafetynet.org.)

2020-05-12T06:00:56+00:00May 12th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: May 11, 2020

COVID-19 Update: May 8, 2020

COVID-19 update for Friday, May 8 as of 2:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

Governor Wolf

Department of Human Services

Department of Health

The Department of Health has posted an application for nursing homes to request civil money penalty reinvestment funds to purchase adaptive technologies such as iPads, tablets, webcams, and accessories to facilitate virtual and social telehealth visits between residents and their families while visitor restrictions are in place.  See an FAQ prepared by CMS here.

Department of Health Daily Briefing

  • Between the continued reconciliation of recent death data and new deaths, the state reported an increase of 200 deaths from COVID-19. This brings the state-wide total to 3616.
  • Continued death data reconciliation and new cases have raised Pennsylvania’s total deaths from COVID-19 nearly 50 percent in the past week.
  • Nearly 11,000 long-term-care facility residents and more than 1500 people who work at 522 such facilities in 44 counties have tested positive for COVID-19.
  • Long-term-care facility residents currently account for 68 percent of all COVID-19 deaths state-wide.
  • More than 3500 health care workers have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Department of State

The Department of State has published a notice that it will permit students about to graduate from physical therapist and physical therapist assistant programs during the COVID-19 emergency to take their licensure examination before they graduate.

General Assembly

The Senate will be in session on May 11, 12, and 13.  The House is not expected to return to session until May 18.

Federal Update

Department of Health and Human Services

  • HHS has updated its general distribution FAQ for the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund. The updated FAQ includes items that are identified as new.  Among other things, it clarifies that HHS will not generally seek to recoup payments as long as providers’ lost revenue and increased expenses are greater than any payments in question.  The FAQ also instructs hospitals on what they should do if they believe they received a mistaken payment or an overpayment.
  • HHS’s Office of the Inspector General has updated its FAQ on how it will apply its administrative enforcement authority to arrangements directly connected to the COVID-19 emergency. The new guidance specifically outlines conditions under which a clinical lab could offer remuneration to a retail pharmacy for costs incurred running test sites during the COVID-19 emergency.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Food and Drug Administration

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Institutes of Health

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at  info@pasafetynet.org.)

 

2020-05-11T06:00:38+00:00May 11th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: May 8, 2020

COVID-19 Update: May 7, 2020

COVID-19 update for Thursday, May 7 as of 2:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

General Assembly

The House canceled its plan to meet next week, on May 11, 12, and 13, and has added May 18, 19, 20, 26, and 27 to its legislative calendar.  The Senate is scheduled to return to session on May 18.

Department of Human Services

Governor Wolf

Governor Wolf has signed an executive order giving health care practitioners protection against liability for good faith actions taken in response to the call to supplement the health care provider workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic.  HAP and the PA Chamber of Commerce and Industry are calling for the protection to be expanded to institutional health care providers.

Governor Wolf has signed an executive order protecting businesses and individuals whose livelihood has been disrupted by COVID-19 from foreclosures or evictions through July 10.

The governor has announced the formation of a volunteer think tank to “…strategize how to heal the trauma that all Pennsylvanians are experiencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”  This marks an expansion of the group’s original scope of work, introduced last July, which was to advise the state government on policies that are sensitive to the needs of individuals who have suffered traumatic experiences.

Department of Health

The Department of Health has posted an FAQ for families of nursing care facility staff and residents.

Department of Health Daily Briefing

  • As part of its continuing reconciliation of data, the Department of Health added more than 300 people to its total of deaths from COVID-19.
  • Among Pennsylvanians who have tested positive from COVID-19, 3437 are health care workers (including nursing home staff), 2107 are food industry workers, and more than 10,000 reside in 514 long-term-care facilities.
  • 2484 Pennsylvanians are currently hospitalized for COVID-19 and 528 are on ventilators.
  • 45 percent of the state’s acute-care beds and 39 percent of its ICU beds are currently unoccupied and 73 percent of its ventilators are idle.
  • Governor Wolf said the state will announce more county/regional openings tomorrow.
  • The state is looking at various Bluetooth technologies to facilitate contact tracing and is now working on a contract for such technology.

Federal Update

Department of Health and Human Services Provider Relief Fund

Department of Health and Human Services

HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response’s Technical Resources Assistance Center and Information Exchange will hold a webinar titled “COVID-19:  Healthcare System Operations Strategies and Experiences” next Monday, May 11 at 2:00 p.m. (eastern) to help health systems incorporate experiences and lessons learned from hospitals in New York, Louisiana, and Arizona that have been hit especially hard by COVID-19.  Find information about the webinar here.

Health Resources and Services Administration

HRSA has awarded nearly $583 million to 1385 HRSA-funded health centers in all 50 states.  The primary purpose of this funding is to expand COVID-19 testing.  See HRSA’s announcement here and an interactive map showing award recipients here.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at  info@pasafetynet.org.)

2020-05-08T06:00:07+00:00May 8th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: May 7, 2020

COVID-19 Update: May 6, 2020

COVID-19 update for Wednesday, May 6 as of 3:00 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

Governor Wolf

  • The Wolf administration announced that it is establishing a facility in Delaware County that has the capacity to decontaminate “tens of thousands” of N95 respirators a day.  The equipment has been provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the service is free, and among those eligible to use this service are health care facilities, first responders, and others, such as hospitals, urgent care centers, nursing homes, rehabilitation facilities, cancer centers, pharmacies, dialysis centers, assisted living facilities, clinical laboratories, emergency medical services, private practice/outpatient facilities, first responder organizations, and others.  Interested organizations must register and information will be available through the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, and others.  Read the Wolf administration’s announcement here.
  • Governor Wolf announced the creation of a new Commonwealth Civilian Coronavirus Corps to “…support efforts this fall to increase testing and contact tracing and provide critical new job opportunities in the public health sector.”  Learn more from the Wolf administration’s announcement, which includes a description of the anticipated areas of endeavor of the new organization.

Department of Human Services

  • DHS has circulated a survey requesting detailed information about the financial impact of COVID-19 on hospitals.  It requests responses by May 20.

Department of Health

The Department of Health has issued a message to its Health Alert Network to reflect that among the various types of COVID-19 tests available, the federal Food and Drug Administration has now authorized some serology tests.

Department of Health Daily Briefing

  • Governor Wolf and Secretary Levine participated in today’s briefing.
  • The governor discussed the new Commonwealth Civilian Coronavirus Corps and said he will provide further information about it in the near future.
  • Secretary Levine reported that among the more than 50,000 cases of COVID-19 in the state, more than 3300 are health care workers, more than 2000 work in the food industry in 122 establishments, and more than 10,000 reside in long-term-care facilities.
  • 2553 COVID-patients are currently hospitalized and 549 are on ventilators.
  • Today marked the fourth straight day of new case counts under 1000, a point that the Secretary described as potentially signifying a promising trend.
  • 46 percent of the state’s acute-care beds and 40 percent of its ICU beds are currently unoccupied and nearly 75 percent of its ventilators are idle.
  • Governor Wolf described the N95 mask decontamination facility in Delaware County.
  • The governor said his administration is not discussing giving civil liability immunity to long-term-care facilities but is discussing some protections for some other health care providers.
  • The state’s overall testing numbers are down, the governor said, because as long as the criteria for testing remains showing symptoms of COVID-19 and the number of cases in the state declines, the number of tests administered declines along with it.
  • The state wants to expand testing, Secretary Levine elaborated, especially in southeastern and northeastern Pennsylvania.  It also hopes to engage in some population-based and surveillance testing, especially in the parts of the state that are reopening, at which time the number of tests performed in the state will increase significantly.

Federal Update

Department of Health and Human Services/Health Resources and Services Administration

Department of Health and Human Services/Office of Civil Rights

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Food and Drug Administration

Department of Labor

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at  info@pasafetynet.org.)

2020-05-07T08:24:56+00:00May 7th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: May 6, 2020

COVID19 Update: May 5, 2020

COVID-19 update for Tuesday, May 5 as of 3:00 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

Governor Wolf:  Reopening Pennsylvania

Governor Wolf has provided guidance to businesses as 24 counties move to the “yellow phase” of reopening beginning this Friday, May 8.  The guidance details procedures businesses must follow to conduct in-person operations.  See the administration’s announcement of the guidance here and go here for the guidance itself.

Department of Human Services

Department of Health

The Department of Health has published interim guidance on conditions and circumstances for discontinuing non-health care isolation for persons with COVID-19.

The department has written to the leaders of hospitals, health care facilities, and laboratories asking them to complete a survey that will be used by the state to determine Pennsylvania’s current capacity for administering COVID-19 tests.  See the letter here and the survey here.

Department of Health Daily Briefing

  • After reconciling death count data over the past two weeks, including data from Philadelphia, the state has added 554 new deaths to its total count.  This raises the total death count nearly 23 percent over yesterday’s announced total.
  • Among the nearly 51,000 Pennsylvanians who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 are 3200 health care workers, more than 9600 residents of long-term-care facilities, and more than 2000 workers in food processing facilities.
  • 2583 Pennsylvanians are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 and 542 of them are on ventilators.
  • 46 percent of the state’s acute-care hospital beds and 40 percent of its ICU vents are unoccupied and nearly 75 percent of its ventilators are idle.
  • Secretary Levine told a legislative committee that the state would not provide personal protective equipment to hospitals that have resumed performing non-urgent procedures because one of the conditions for resuming such procedures is having an adequate supply of such materials.

Federal Update

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Food and Drug Administration

  • The FDA has updated its policy on the review and approval of diagnostic and antibody tests for COVID-19.  In a commentary titled “Insight Into FDA’s Revised Policy on Antibody Tests for COVID-19,” FDA officials explain the evolution of the agency’s approach to issuing emergency use authorizations for antibody tests.  The new policy itself can be found here.
  • The FDA has issued emergency use authorizations (EUA) for two specific commercial diagnostic tests for COVID-19.  See them here and here.

Medicaid Health Plans of America

  • Medicaid Health Plans of America, a trade association that represents more than 90 Medicaid managed care plans serving Medicaid beneficiaries in 37 states, has written to leaders of Congress to ask that they increase the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP), the rate at which the federal government matches state Medicaid expenditures, by 12 percent retroactive to January 1, 2020 and through September 30, 2021.  The group also asked Congress to delay or cancel CMS’s Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation (MFAR).

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at  info@pasafetynet.org.)

2020-05-06T06:00:45+00:00May 6th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID19 Update: May 5, 2020

COVID-19 Update: May 4, 2020

COVID-19 update for Monday, May 4 as of 2:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

Department of Health

The Department of Health has issued an advisory on the criteria for the discontinuation of transmission-based precautions for patients with COVID-19.

The department has issued an update on its criteria for health care personnel returning to work after confirmed or suspected COVID-19.  The advisory includes extending the amount of time such personnel need to be excluded from work after the first symptoms arise.

The department has posted an alert reminding health care providers that only labs with CLIA certification can perform COVID-19 tests, that only molecular and serology tests have been authorized by the FDA, and providing additional clarifications.  It also offers a graphic depiction of COVID-19 testing requirements.

Department of Health Daily Briefing

  • With 825 new cases yesterday, Pennsylvania has surpassed 50,000 people diagnosed with COVID-19.  2500 of them have passed away.
  • Of the 50,000 cases, 3100 are health care workers and more than 9300 reside in long-term-care facilities.
  • 2689 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19; among them, 553 are on ventilators.
  • 46 percent of the state’s acute-care beds and 40 percent of its ICU beds are currently unoccupied and nearly 75 percent of its ventilators are now idle.
  • The process of reviewing counties and regions for eligibility to reopen will be conducted on a continual basis as new data becomes available.
  • Secretary Levine believes that if mitigation measures are reduced that case counts will rise.
  • She believes the strategy the state has been employing has been appropriate.
  • She said the state is still not getting the data on race that it needs to perform a more complete analysis of the impact of COVID-19.
  • The Department of Health is working on guidance for dental practices and hopes to have that guidance by the end of the week.
  • State officials are still discussing whether to share data with the public on cases and deaths in individual long-term-care facilities.
  • The death counts Philadelphia announces and those the state announces for Philadelphia continue to disagree.  The two jurisdictions use different data systems and are working to reconcile the differences between those systems.
  • With another outbreak predicted for later this year, Secretary Levine said that one of the major lessons the state has learned, and that it should apply in the future, is to seek to be able to do more testing, especially at the point of care and with a faster turnaround time for results.

Department of Human Services

DHS has issued a Medical Assistance Bulletin adding COVID-19 lab test codes to the Medicaid program fee schedule.

DHS has issued a Medical Assistance Bulletin adding the multi-function ventilator to the Medicaid program fee schedule.

DHS has issued a Medical Assistance Bulletin on COVID-19 testing and related treatments that are exempt from Medicaid copayment requirements.

DHS has issued a Medical Assistance Bulletin to advise providers that certain non-physician practitioners may prescribe home health services and medical supplies, equipment, and appliances effective March 1.

DHS’s Office of Long-Term Living has posted a notice presenting a new way to certify people to administer insulin injections in long-term-care facilities that may have a shortage of qualified staff to perform this task.

Federal Update

Department of Health and Human Services

  • Last Friday HHS began processing $22 billion in payments from the CARES Act’s provider relief fund to hospitals with large numbers of COVID-19 admissions through April 10 and to rural providers in support of the national response to COVID-19.  See HHS’s announcement of the distribution of this money, including a breakdown by state of grant recipients.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

CMS Stakeholder Calls

CMS hosts recurring stakeholder engagement sessions to share information about the agency’s response to COVID-19.  These sessions are open to members of the health care community and are intended to provide updates, share best practices among peers, and offer participants an opportunity to ask questions of CMS and other subject matter experts.  Conference lines are limited so CMS encourages interested parties to join via audio webcast.  Call recordings and transcripts are posted on the CMS podcast page at https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Outreach/OpenDoorForums/PodcastAndTranscripts

CMS COVID-19 Office Hours Call

Office Hour Calls provide an opportunity for hospitals, health systems, and providers to ask questions of agency officials regarding CMS’s temporary actions that empower local hospitals and health care systems to increase hospital capacity, expand the health care work force, and promote greater use of telehealth in Medicare.  This week’s first of two Office Hours Calls will be held on Tuesday, May 5 at 5:00 p.m. (eastern).  The toll-free dial-in number is 833-614-0820 and the access passcode is 3996146.  Interested parties also can join the audio webcast here.

This week’s second Office Hours Call will be held on Thursday, May 7 at 5:00 p.m. (eastern).  The toll-free dial-in number is 833-614-0820 and the access passcode is 1181167.  Interested parties also can join the audio webcast here.

Lessons from the Front Lines

Lessons from the Front Lines calls are a joint effort between CMS Administrator Seema Verma, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, MD, and the White House Coronavirus Task Force.  Physicians and other clinicians are invited to share their experience, ideas, strategies, and insights with one another related to their COVID-19 response.  There is an opportunity to ask questions of presenters.  This week’s Lessons From the Front Lines call will be held on Friday, May 8 at 12:30 p.m. (eastern).  The toll-free dial-in number is 877-251-0301 and the access code is 9146779.  Interested parties also can join the meeting via audio webcast here.

Home Health and Hospice

This week’s home health and hospice call will be held on Tuesday, May 5 at 3:00 p.m. (eastern).  The toll-free dial-in number is 833-614-0820 and the access passcode is 7844154.  Interested parties also can join the meeting via audio webcast here.

Nursing Homes

This week’s nursing homes call will be held on Wednesday, May 6 at 4:30 p.m. (eastern).  The toll-free dial-in number is 833-614-0820 and the access passcode is  8899983.  Interested parties also can join the meeting via audio webcast here.

Dialysis Organizations

This week’s call for dialysis organizations will be held on Wednesday, May 6 at 5:30 p.m. (eastern).  The toll-free dial-in number is 833-614-0820 and the access passcode is 8278522.  Interested parties also can join the meeting via audio webcast here.

Nurses

This week’s call for nurses will be held on Thursday, May 7 at 3:00 p.m. (eastern).  The toll-free dial-in number is 833-614-0820 and the access passcode is 5486361.  Interested parties also can join the meeting via audio webcast here.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Food and Drug Administration

Department of Labor

  • The Department of Labor has issued additional guidance about 100 percent federal reimbursement of certain state short-term compensation payments and other changes in short-term compensation programs.  The guidance seeks to address “…how states can take advantage of this program as they look to re-open their businesses.”  For further information see the department’s news release and its official unemployment insurance program letter.

National Institutes of Health

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at  info@pasafetynet.org.)

2020-05-05T06:00:40+00:00May 5th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: May 4, 2020

COVID-19 Update: May 1, 2020

COVID-19 update for Friday, May 1 as of 4:00 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

Reopening Pennsylvania

Governor Wolf on Friday announced the reopening of 24 Pennsylvania counties in the northwestern and north-central parts of the state, moving them from red to yellow in his three-color plan for reopening the state.  The governor outlined the criteria used to reach these decisions and the provisions for contact tracing and additional testing that make reopening possible.  The reopening calls for reduced use but not elimination of social distancing and includes guidance on work, congregate, and social activities that are now permitted as well as those that remain restricted or prohibited.  On Monday the administration will release guidance for businesses permitted to reopen in the selected counties.

Health Secretary Levine encouraged residents of the 24 counties to continue the recent practices of social distancing and use of face masks.  For more information on the reopening, what it means, and how it will work, see this news release from the governor’s office.  Additional resources of interest include:

Department of Health

The Department of Health has updated its interim guidance for collecting clinical specimens for COVID-19 testing.

Department of Health Daily Briefing

  • Governor Wolf and Secretary Levine discussed the reopening of 24 counties during the daily briefing.
  • The governor said that southwestern and south-central Pennsylvania look like good candidates for reopening in the near future.
  • Secretary Levine discussed how contact tracing would be undertaken in the 24 counties, listing the resources that would be involved and holding out the possibility that the state may hire additional people to help, if needed.
  • Community-based testing will be available in the 24 counties for people with COVID-19 symptoms.
  • The governor said the state has already reduced spending in the current fiscal year in light of reduced revenue and that he will be working with the legislature on an FY 2021 budget with the understanding that revenues will continue to be down from past levels.
  • 2677 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 and 561 of them have required help from a ventilator.
  • 40 percent of the state’s acute-care beds and 47 percent of its ICU beds are currently unoccupied and 70 percent of ventilators are now idle.

Department of Human Services

DHS has posted information about all-patient refined-diagnosis related groups (APR-DRGs) to be updated with COVID-19 billing codes.

Department of Revenue

The Revenue Department announced that Pennsylvania collected $2.2 billion in General Fund revenue in April, which was $2.2 billion, or 49.7 percent, less than anticipated.   For the fiscal year-to-date General Fund collections total $27.5 billion, which is $2.2 billion, or 7.4 percent, below estimate.  It is too soon to draw any conclusions about how this will affect negotiations for the state’s FY 2021 budget and its Medicaid program but this loss of revenue clearly poses a challenge state officials will need to address.

Federal Update

Follow-Up to Thursday’s Interim Final Rule Release

Yesterday CMS released a second interim final rule with comment period announcing a new round of regulatory waivers and rule changes to provide additional flexibility to the health care system as the COVID-19 crisis continues and the country begins to reopen.

These changes included some of the telehealth flexibilities providers have asked for in recent weeks, such as hospital reimbursement for the originating site when telehealth services for Medicare patients are furnished by a physician or practitioner who ordinarily practices in a hospital outpatient department to a patient who is located at home or other applicable temporary expansion location that has been made provider-based to the hospital; an expanded list of telehealth codes that may be offered with audio-only technology; and an expanded list of professionals who may bill for telehealth visits.  CMS has also increased reimbursement for three of the audio-only evaluation and management telehealth services described with codes 99441-99443.

Teaching hospitals are permitted to expand their number of beds without affecting indirect medical education (IME) bed ratios; to count the time of residents sent to other hospitals; and to permit teaching physicians to remotely review services provided by residents immediately after a patient visit.

The interim final rule implements sweeping changes for many provider types.  CMS has updated its provider-specific fact sheets to include this new information.  Please let us know if you have any questions that are not answered in the fact sheets.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

  • The White House announced that CMS will be distributing $12 billion of CARES Act provider relief to 395 hospitals that have cared for 70 percent of the diagnosed COVID-19 cases.  The majority of the funds will go to providers in New York, New Jersey, and Illinois.  $2 billion of this money will go toward a Medicare DSH adjustment for those hospitals.  We are still awaiting additional details.
  • CMS has announced the creation of an independent commission to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the nursing home response to the COVID-19 emergency. See CMS’s news release and a fact sheet.
  • CMS has updated it EMTALA FAQ for hospitals to address COVID-19-related issues. 

Department of Health and Human Services

Food and Drug Administration

Department of Labor

Federal Communications Commission

Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission

 Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at  info@pasafetynet.org.)

 

2020-05-03T12:38:33+00:00May 3rd, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19, Uncategorized|Comments Off on COVID-19 Update: May 1, 2020
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