The New York State Department of Health (DOH) recently reported that surveys of more than half of New York City’s nursing homes (many with substantial COVID-19 deaths) were found to be in total compliance with infection control guidelines. The surveys were conducted under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) new Coronavirus-focused inspection strategy started in March.
The city has a total of 173 nursing homes, and the DOH reported it had conducted 79 surveys that were focused on infection control after the Coronavirus arrived in the state. A local news publication analyzed 35 of the 79 inspection reports and found that only 10 facilities had violations. The remaining 25 were totally compliant.
University of Chicago professor R. Tamara Konetzka, who recently testified before the U.S. Senate that she found no connection between a facility’s history of quality care and the likelihood of COVID-19 infections, issued this statement, “We conclude from this analysis that while some nursing homes undoubtedly had better infection control practices than others, the enormity of this pandemic, coupled with the inherent vulnerability of the nursing home setting, left even the highest-quality nursing homes largely unprepared.”.
It was noted that the facilities that received citations involved the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), cohorting (keeping residents with COVID-19 along with their staff separated from non-infected residents), and the failure of staff members to maintain social distancing from each other.
Compliance Perspective
Failure to prevent the spread of a contagious disease like COVID-19 among residents who are at higher risk by not implementing CMS and CDC guidelines regarding PPE, cohorting, and social distancing may result in citations from DOH surveyors and might be deemed provision of substandard quality of care, in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures to ensure that all aspects of CMS and CDC guidelines, e.g., infection control, hand hygiene protocols, cohorting of infected residents, supplies of PPE, and staff observance of social distancing, are being followed to control the spread of COVID-19.
- Train staff on the guidelines for controlling the spread of the Coronavirus, with specific emphasis on hand hygiene, use of PPE, cohorting of infected residents, and social distancing.
- Periodically audit to determine if staff have access to and are wearing PPE correctly, observing social distancing, and not failing to perform hand hygiene as the infection protocol instructs.
