Ambulance companies frequently contract with long-term care facilities to provide non-emergency medical transportation for the residents. This transportation involves taking residents to doctors’ offices, dialysis, and other medical appointments. Currently, EMS and medical transport drivers are not required to undergo regular COVID-19 testing, although they may be exposed to persons who have contracted the Coronavirus. Instead, they are required to be screened for symptoms at the start of each shift.
Guidelines issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) require COVID-10 testing for all nursing home residents and staff “based on parameters and a frequency set forth by the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. Facilities can meet the testing requirements through the use of rapid point-of-care diagnostic testing devices, or through an arrangement with an offsite laboratory.”
Long-term care providers believe that according to CMS, “‘Facility staff’ includes employees, consultants, contractors, volunteers, and caregivers who provide care and services to residents on behalf of the facility, and students in the facility’s nurse aide training programs or from affiliated academic institutions.”
Some proponents advocating for EMS and ambulance workers to be tested believe that the real issue behind the companies’ resistance is related to costs of testing and the downtime for workers who test positive or who must be quarantined due to exposure to the Coronavirus.
Compliance Perspective
Allowing persons who provide care and/or services to residents to enter the facility without being tested for COVID-19 may pose a risk of spreading the virus to residents, many of whom are among the most vulnerable to the disease. Except for emergency situations, such risk may cause the facility to be considered as placing residents in immediate jeopardy for harm, in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures to ensure that transportation providers contracted to provide services for residents adhere to federal mandates applicable to such persons before entering the facility’s premises.
- Train staff regarding the need to protect residents from risk of exposure to the Coronavirus that might occur when persons enter the facility without proper testing and screening.
- Periodically audit to ensure that testing guidelines are being applied appropriately to persons entering the facility to provide services/care to the residents.
