Webinar: Avoiding COVID-19 Burnout: Self-care and Resiliency for Public Health Leaders

Date: September 10, 2020

Time: 2:00 PM Central

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General concerns and anxieties can be difficult to manage during the best of situations, but what happens when you are trying to manage them as a leader amid a public health crisis?

Join the National Council for Behavioral Health’s Behavioral Health Training Institute (BHTI) for Health Officials and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) on Thursday, September 10 from 3-4 p.m. ET for “Avoiding COVID-19 Burnout: Self-care and Resiliency for Public Health Leaders.”

Learn about the range of individual and collective responses to trauma and practice strategies to effectively respond to stress and engage in self-care.

In this one-hour workshop, you’ll hear from National Council experts Joan Kenerson King, RN, MSN, integrated health senior consultant, and Elizabeth Guroff, MA, LCMFT, director of trauma-informed services.

MHA’s COVID-19 Lessons Learned from Missouri Hospitals A Virtual Speaker Series

This speaker series will reflect on COVID-19 and its impact on Missouri hospitals, while looking forward to help prepare for what may yet come. We are excited to feature MHA Member hospital leaders and partners who will share lessons they have learned, best practices and emerging practices. Planned topics will include: visitor policies,  regulatory waivers, workforce, financial impacts and many others.

Each session will be offered at 2 p.m. every Wednesday starting on Wednesday, August 12. Sessions will be updated based on feedback from our members and the developing COVID situation; sessions will be added to the calendar as topics and speakers are finalized. Check the MHA event calendar for information.

Register on or before the Monday before each session you plan to attend.

Calendar

RHC COVID-19 Free Resource: Connections for Community Care Project

The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) and the National Association of Rural Health Clinics (NARHC) are delighted to introduce the Connections for Community Care project.

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Funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP), this project will provide Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) across the nation with easy access to and technical assistance (TA) for comprehensive, community-centric COVID-19 onsite testing and is available at no cost to any RHC!

RHCs are the cornerstone of the rural health safety net. They know their patients, their communities and they must be poised and equipped to take advantage of every resource to ensure comprehensive, community centric, and efficient testing across the nation.

Accessing additional information or getting started with the program is as simple as sending an email expressing interest to rhccovidtestinginfo@nosorh.org!

 

CMS Interim Final Rule: Hospital & CAH COVID Reporting

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted an interim final rule (IFR) related to COVID-19 surveillance with new reporting and testing requirements for nursing homes and other providers, including hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs). The new rules make reporting a requirement of participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs for both hospitals and CAHs. The IFR states: “Should a hospital or CAH fail to consistently report test results throughout the duration of the PHE for COVID-19, it will be non-compliant with the hospital and the CAH CoPs” (Conditions of Participation) “set forth at §§ 482.42(e) and 485.640(d), respectively, and subject to termination as defined at 42 CFR 489.53(a)(3).“

Hospitals and CAHs

Hospitals and CAHs will be required to report data daily, including but not limited to elements such as the number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 positive patients, intensive care unit beds occupied, and availability of essential supplies and equipment such as ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE).

In March, Vice President Pence sent a letter to all hospitals requesting that they provide the results of COVID-19 tests performed in their in-house laboratories to help better understand and track disease patterns. CMS’ new rules require such reporting of test results in order to ensure a more complete picture in the nationwide surveillance of COVID-19, as well as a more efficient allocation of PPE and other vital supplies.

More Information

Please see the links below to a brief fact sheet about the IFR and the full IFR, that pertain not only to hospitals and CAHs, but also to labs, nursing homes, and physician and pharmacist orders for COVID-19 testing.

 Comments

This is an interim final rule with a comment period. Comments must be submitted electronically or by mail as outlined on page A3 of the IFR “60 days after publication in the federal register.”

Webinar: Are You Prepared for an ACP Conversation with Your Patients?

Date: September 23, 2020

Time: 10:00 AM Central

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Advance care planning (ACP) ensures your patients’ health care and end-of-life wishes are known to you and their other health care providers, their caregivers and loved ones before a serious illness or health crisis. Are you ready for a conversation with your patients? Join the Health Quality Innovation Network (HQIN) and the Center for Practical Bioethics to learn more about normalizing and engaging in the ACP process and how to complete ACP documents like a living will. You will also learn about the role of the patient and those appointed to act on the patient’s behalf, as well as how the ACP process is reflected in Kansas and Missouri law. You will have an opportunity to ask questions at the conclusion of the session.

Trump Administration Strengthens COVID-19 Surveillance with New Reporting and Testing Requirements for Nursing Homes, Other Providers

August 25, 2020

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced sweeping regulatory changes that require nursing homes to test staff and offer testing to residents for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Laboratories and nursing homes using point-of-care testing devices will be required to report diagnostic test results as required by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The new rules also require hospitals to provide COVID-19 cases and related data to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

These new requirements strongly support the Trump Administration’s efforts to boost surveillance of the virus and double down on its commitment to keep nursing home residents safe. The requirements will support federal and state efforts to identify early spread of the virus and allocate personal protective equipment (PPE) and other resources.

“These new rules represent a dramatic acceleration of our efforts to track and control the spread of COVID-19,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “Reporting of test results and other data are vitally important tools for controlling the spread of the virus and give providers on the front lines what they need to fight it.”

Click to view full Press Release.