If you are a Michigan provider, this information is for you! The state of Michigan has updated their testing reimbursement guidelines and issues a memo on November 2, 2020. Please be sure you are following the guidelines, maintaining the documentation and requesting reimbursement for testing on a timely basis. Download the information from Michigan.gov! Stay the course, stay strong, stay …
A KHN News article says that nursing homes, small physician offices, and rural clinics are being left behind in the rush for N95 masks and other protective gear, exposing some of the country’s most vulnerable populations and their caregivers to COVID-19 while larger, wealthier health care facilities build equipment stockpiles. More than eight months into the pandemic, health care leaders …
Randomized clinical trials of community mask use are challenging to conduct because of ethical and practical considerations. Observational studies have substantial limitations but can be instructive per an article published in the American Medical Association’s journal (JAMA) on October 26, 2020. To understand the rationale for mask-wearing to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission, it is helpful to understand how the virus spreads …
Dr. Anthony Fauci displayed his trademark bluntness in an address to the medical community at Thomas Jefferson University, warning against premature hopes of “herd immunity” to COVID-19. It remains a puzzle why some people get very sick yet most do not and it remains difficult to predict which are which although genetics and previous exposures to viruses may both play …
New research presented at the 2020 ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Disease (ECCVID) suggests that lower levels of baseline plasma zinc are associated with poorer survival outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The study by Dr. Roberto Guerri-Fernandez, Hospital DelMar, Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues, involved a retrospective analysis of symptomatic COVID-19 patients admitted to a tertiary university hospital in Barcelona, Spain …
A CNBC article announced that AstraZeneca is developing its potential COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with the University of Oxford and that the vaccine has produced a similar immune response in older and younger adults. The World Health Organization has said that older people, in addition to people of all ages with pre-existing medical conditions, appear to develop serious illness on …
Is there someone working with seniors who has gone above and beyond the call of duty? Have you been inspired by their selfless acts? Do you have unique ideas for engaging senior living facility residents? If so, we want to hear your story! Throughout the next couple of months, we are going to share the stories of the great things …
In a recent publication on “Morning Consult”, Mark Parkinson, President, and CEO of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) gave some insight into what providers have been living with and continue to struggle with during this pandemic. “From the beginning, long-term care providers never wavered from their commitment to delivering the highest quality of …
In the months leading to the implementation of a new Medicare payment model for skilled nursing facilities, various voices predicted an exodus of smaller, “mom-and-pop” operators who’d rather call it a career than adapt to a completely new reimbursement system. But only a few months after the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) took effect last fall, the effects of the COVID-19 …
Surge capacity refers to the ability to manage a sudden increase in patient volume that would severely challenge or exceed the present capacity of a facility. While there are no widely accepted measurements or triggers to distinguish surge capacity from daily patient care capacity, surge capacity is a useful framework to approach a decreased supply of gloves during the COVID-19 …
