COMPLIANCE

Immediate Jeopardy: Infection Control Violations

Immediate jeopardy is a situation in which the nursing home’s non-compliance with one or more requirements has caused, or is likely to cause, serious injury, harm, impairment, or death to a resident .

Regulators found infection control violations in at least three dozen Ohio nursing homes placed the health and safety of patients in “immediate jeopardy” during the COVID pandemic, an Ohio Capital Journal investigation has found.

CMS

82% of nursing homes received infection control citations between 2013 and 2017

In May 2020, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, an internal watchdog, reviewed CMS’ oversight of infection control regulations at nursing homes leading up to the pandemic. Between 2013 and 2017, a whopping 82% of the nation’s 15,500 nursing homes received an infection control citation. These are mostly, but not always, minor deficiencies.

Of all the roughly 13,300 homes that received one citation, about half of them received multiple citations in consecutive years. About 35% of them had deficiencies cited over three or four consecutive years.

Excelas’ robust Comprehensive Integrated Timeline Tool, CITT (pronounced “kit”) allows clients to incorporate key data with guidelines, regulations, and standards in a variety of situations, including infection control.

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Industry Perspective and the Comprehensive Integrated Timeline

In a recent commentary by Jacquelyn Smith Clarke of Hall Booth Smith, P.C., she discussed the importance of maintaining a comprehensive library of COVID-19 documentation.

• She noted it is labor intensive, but critical when needed to defend complaints.
• She points out that guidance regarding COVID-19 issues has been evolving since the start of the pandemic and maintaining an organized library of these directives at specific points in time is key.
• She recommends that long-term care facilities memorialize facility policies and procedures along with outside regulations to provide “consistency of knowledge and reliable evidence to use in support of the care.”

REMOTE WORK

Best practices for working remotely

To say that COVID-19 has presented numerous challenges to employers would certainly be an understatement. One of the changes and challenges that has entered the workforce is the proliferation of work from home arrangements.
 
With remote workers, employers have had to alter the ways they recruit, pay, manage, and even discharge employees.
 
In the last twelve years prior to the onset of the pandemic, remote work witnessed a 159 percent growth, and it is estimated that 36.2 million Americans will work from home by 2025, according to recent surveys . 

At Excelas, we have supported work from home arrangements for over 16 years! Below are 11 best practices for working remotely published by FYI.

HONORS

Guess who was in the Wall Street Journal February 16, 2022

Excelas is honored to be in the company of notable innovative companies who have been selected as the Best and Brightest Companies to Work for in the Nation.