New York’s Governor issued new guidelines to nursing homes that are intended to provide more protection for residents and employees. Primarily, the guidelines require that all nursing home staff members be tested for COVID-19 twice a week. However, NY County officials indicate that while this would produce a rise in the amount of testing, there is a need for more supplies in order to do so.
The County Executive responded by saying, “We estimated there are about 2,000 personnel that work in nursing homes in the County. We’re going to have to conduct 4,000 tests a week,”
Since the County only receives 1,600 test kits per week from the State, this requirement will create a deficit need of an additional 2,400 tests per week.
The County has an emergency operations center that responds when nursing homes and other settings are unable to obtain the number of tests they need. Requests are then sent to the State.
Along with the new required testing guidelines, nursing homes must now notify the State if they cannot provide adequate care for their residents.
Residents with COVID-19 who are hospitalized will now have to remain in the hospital until they no longer test positive for the Coronavirus.
The Governor issued this statement, “Any nursing home that fails to follow the health procedures will lose their license.”
Compliance Perspective
Failure by a nursing home to follow local, state, and federally issued COVID-19 testing guidelines and other mandated actions might place it in jeopardy of citations for provision of substandard quality of care, in violation of state and federal regulations.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures regarding COVID-19 testing requirements for residents and staff issued by local, state, and federal governments.
- Train staff on the COVID-19 testing guidelines in effect for their specific state, and also the importance of following and documenting compliance with CMS/CDC guidelines for preventing the spread of infection.
- Periodically audit to determine if required COVID-19 testing is being conducted and documented, and if the facility has access to a sufficient number of test kits to comply with applicable local, state, and federal guidelines.
