Angie's Blog

HealthCap® USA

Angie Szumlinski, NHA, RN-BC, RAC-CT and BS

Director of Risk Management

Angie Szumlinski Ms. Szumlinski is a nationally-recognized leader in long-term care with experience as an Owner/Provider, Administrator, Director of Nursing, Corporate Quality Assurance Coordinator and independent consultant. Ms. Szumlinski conducts risk management visits at facilities across the country, touching every acuity level within the post-acute care spectrum. Ms. Szumlinski served as an Associated Board Member for NCAL, is a member of the AHCA/NCAL Quality Committee, NCAL Risk Management Committee, HCAM Legal/Clinical Committee and is a Senior Examiner/Team Leader for the AHCA/NCAL Quality Award Program. Ms. Szumlinski is a Nurse Planner for the HealthCap^® ANCC accredited education program.

Discharges to Post-Acute Care Decline Amid COVID-19 Crisis

Rachael Milkey October 23, 2020 Studies

Recent Avalere analysis shows that as inpatient hospital volume fell in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, discharges to SNF and home health experienced a similar decline. “In the early months of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., we saw a substantial decrease in hospital discharges to both skilled nursing facilities and home health agencies” said Heather Flynn, Consultant at Avalere. …

Outdoor Virtual Visits – Stop and Think!

Angie Szumlinski October 23, 2020 Health, News

In a recent article published in Medscape Nurse, Dr. Gregory A. Hood described an interesting event that occurred during a “telehealth” visit. The patient’s wife was setting up the visit in the backyard of their rural, mountainous home when she encountered a Copperhead snake and was subsequently bitten. The story had a happy ending, however, it did make me pause …

Corona Virus - Microbiology And Virology Concept - 3d Rendering

Liability and COVID-19

Angie Szumlinski October 22, 2020 News

On this continuing journey through the COVID-19 pandemic and facing the challenges of resident and staff illness and death, our grief is immeasurable. As a former provider, I feel the heartache, loss and unspeakable havoc this pandemic has placed on our centers. We have been challenged with PPE and staffing shortages, residents with new onset of depression, isolation and loneliness; …

Guiding Principles and Planning Assumptions – Visitor Policies and Access

Angie Szumlinski October 22, 2020 Announcements, Studies

In a recent publication in the Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, there was a discussion regarding finding the right balance on opening visitation in nursing homes and distinguishing between family caregivers and social visitors. The information is interesting and summarized below for your reading pleasure. The link for the complete article is also included if you would like …

CMS Press Release

Angie Szumlinski October 21, 2020 Compliance

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently updated the way they determine the rate of COVID-19 positivity in counties. This has the potential to affect your facility, as the frequency that many long term care facilities must test their staff is based on the positivity rate in their county. Please read the memo from CMS below to understand what …

Herd Immunity

Angie Szumlinski October 21, 2020 News

White House Coronavirus Task Force member, Dr. Scott Atlas, responded to a report by the Washington Post claiming he is a proponent of a controversial herd immunity strategy to combat Covid-19. The strategy would allow the virus to spread through the US population in order to develop a resistance to it. “That was never a strategy that was advocated by …

Reporting Results of Point of Care Testing for COVID-19: A New NHSN Pathway

Angie Szumlinski October 20, 2020 Training

The NHSN team will introduce and provide training for a new NHSN Long-term Care Facility COVID-19 Pathway laboratory data reporting option. The October 22nd training will be live and allow for submission of audience questions. The October 23rd training will be a rebroadcast of the recorded training followed by a live Q & A session. A recording of the original …

Another Study – Environmental Contamination

Angie Szumlinski October 20, 2020 Announcements, Case Study

There has been a lot of discussion regarding whether the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be spread through indirect contact on environmental surfaces. Although the debate continues, a recent study was published that indicates there may be more to this than some may think. Two Chinese students studying overseas returned to China on March 19 and March 20. On the day of …

HCAM/MCAL Member Update – Vaccination Distribution

Angie Szumlinski October 19, 2020 Announcements

White House Announces Vaccination Distribution Program for LTC Residents Today, the White House announced the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program–a national vaccine distribution program for long term care residents. The COVID-19 vaccine will likely become available in phases over the coming months. To prepare, the federal government has partnered with CVS and Walgreens to distribute and administer the vaccine …

Facility-Wide Serial Testing for SARS-CoV-2

Angie Szumlinski October 19, 2020 Announcements, Case Study

Facility-wide, serial testing in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) can identify asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections among health care personnel (HCP) and residents to inform mitigation efforts. A recent report published on the CDC.gov website provided additional information on this topic when two Minnesota SNFs identified COVID-19 cases among 64% of residents and 33% of HCP. Genetic sequencing found facility-specific clustering of viral …

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Ep 14 A Conversation with Vivage Senior Living
Join HealthCap Director of Risk Management Angie Szumlinski as she talks with Cynthia Coenen, Chief Clinical Officer for Vivage Senior Living in Colorado. Angie and Cynthia talk about best practices, documentation, and lessons learned during this pandemic.
Ep 13 - COVID Successes of Cedar Crest Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
HealthCap Risk Manager Cathy Hamblen interviews Tracie Murray, Administrator, and Bethany Murray, Assistant Administrator of Cedar Crest Nursing and Rehabilitation Center of Sunnyvale, California. They walk us through the implementation and execution of their successful COVID plan that brought them through the outbreak to being declared COVID-free today.
Ep 12. What is Legal Immunity in the Time of COVID-19?
We've been hearing the term "immunity" a lot in the news lately. But when talking about immunity, there's another kind that has nothing to do with antibodies. In today's podcast, Christina Nechiporchik and Marc Feeney discuss legal immunity, and how it affects the senior living industry.
Ep 11 Root Cause Analysis
When an incident occurs, what do you do? Are you just running around putting out fires? Listen as HealthCap Risk Managers Patti Sweet and Donna Long explain the Root Cause Analysis process and why you should be doing it in your facility.
Ep 10 Coronavirus and Infection Control
It's no wonder coronavirus is all over the news. With the number of cases of coronavirus at over 20,000 in China, the number of cases in the U.S. has now risen to over 10. Many of us in the Senior Living Industry are thinking about our community and wondering what we would do it the […]