ICF/IDD Updates

CMS sent out QSO-21-14 this week. It gives some extensive expectations on visitation (outdoor, indoor, virtual, compassionate care), COVID-19 testing of staff/clients/visitors, communal dining and activities, survey considerations, and recommended resources. Additionally, Kevin Dressler sent the following updates:

Incident Management Bulletin

Reminder: We sent out the draft IM bulletin a few months ago and have not received any feedback. I would love to hear everyone is fine with the way the IM bulletin is written; however we fully expect some comments. The Bulletin mirrors the IM bulletin for the 6400 covered locations for the private ICFs and has some increased requirements for the public ICFs (state centers).  Please send all comments to Chris Blauser by March 15, 2021. Thank you.

Vaccine Administration

We want to verify that all ICFs have established a provider to administer COVID vaccines to the people served and staff at each of your ICF locations; if you do not have a provider identified, we can assist in locating a provider for you.

• Please identify any ICF location in your organization that has not established a provider to administer the COVID-19 vaccination to the staff and people supported. If an ICF location meets this criteria, please send an email IMMEDIATELY with location information for assistance connecting with a vaccine provider.

Health Alert Network Updates

Please review the updated Health Alert Network guidance from the PA Department of Health. I listed some of the recent updated or newly developed HANs that may be of interest:

• HAN 551 – Post Vaccine Quarantine Guidance
• HAN 550- COVID variant update
• HAN 547- Antigen Testing for COVID-19 in Long Term Care Facilities
• HAN 545- Vaccination Indicators and Contraindications

ICF Task Force Meeting Proposed Dates

The meetings for 2021 will be video conferencing through Skype or Microsoft Teams.

Proposed Dates and times:

• March 2, 2021 (Tue)  11-1pm
• July 6, 2021 (Tue)  11-1pm
• November 2, 2021 (Tue)  11-1pm

Let us know if there are any major conflicts with dates.

ICF Taskforce Meeting Topics

As always we would like to make the ICF Task Force Meetings as meaningful as possible.  So, please submit to us any topics and ideas that would be of value to you and your organization and we will work to incorporate them into the meetings.