The end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency on May 11th requires hospice organizations to examine their current practices. The waivers and flexibilities put into place to ease burdens on hospices will be coming to an end. To avoid survey deficiencies, it’s important to know when compliance to the affected Conditions of Participation is expected. A…
Tag: epp
OSHA General Duty Clause
With the approach of Labor Day, the US pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of its workers. Recent years’ events have been intense as healthcare organizations have worked hard to keep their employees safe from COVID-19. OSHA standards play a large part of protecting workers in healthcare settings with standards for bloodborne pathogens, personal…
Emergency Preparedness
Spring in the United States brings more than beautiful flowers and green grass. In fact, this Spring has brought snow storms, wildfires, floods, and deadly tornadoes. The Conditions of Participation for home health, hospice, and many state licensed home services require the establishment of an emergency plan for its organization, employees, and patients. In addition…
Conditions of Participation
When it comes to the Conditions of Participation for both home health care and hospice, there are different sources for this information. Organizations often search the State Operations Manual (SOM) for CoPs. However, it’s important to remember that this document is a guide for state surveyors and doesn’t contain other information such as Conditions for…
National Preparedness Month
A new month is upon us, and the designation of it being National Preparedness Month could not be more timely. The sheer number of things Americans are currently dealing with is overwhelming—hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, tornadoes, COVID variants, and more and more and more. Frankly, we are tired. When is National “Gimme A Break” Month??? Sadly,…
Emergency Preparedness Readiness
Hurricane season officially kicked off June 1st. With the formation of a Potential Tropical Cyclone system, designated by the National Hurricane Center, agencies and residents should prepare now for high winds and flooding rain. Utilize your emergency preparedness risk mitigation to put action steps into place in the event you should need to implement your…
Continuity of Business
Although the COVID-19 Pandemic is not over, many business are returning to daily operations and navigating the post-pandemic fall out. There are several steps your agency can take to prepare for State survey. Updating/creating policies to adhere to stringent infection control guidelines and vaccine guidance Updating your Emergency Preparedness Plan to include newly released Interpretive…
Emergency Preparedness Plan Changes
On March 26, 2021, CMS released updated interpretive guidelines and updates to Appendix Z of the State Operations Manual (SOM) as well as Expanded Guidance related to Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs). These are effective immediately. One prominent change was the addition of Emerging Infectious Diseases. This addition impacts various aspects of your emergency plan and…
