COVID POLICY

Nursing home COVID deaths resulted from “must-admit orders”

“Must-admit orders” requiring long term care facilities to accept COVID positive patients contributed to nursing home deaths.

In the spring of 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a directive to restrict admitting COVID-positive residents unless nursing homes were cleared for safety and isolation protocols. However, many states did not follow this guidance.

“In an attempt to relieve hospital strain in a time of crisis, states like New York went beyond this guidance, requiring nursing homes to reopen their doors to Covid-positive patients with must-admit orders, regardless of safety and capacity to follow guidance and follow protocols,” said California Rep. Raul Ruiz (D).

As a result of an inadequate response, nursing homes became the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis. Over 200,000 residents and staff died in long-term care facilities, with 15,000 nursing home deaths in New York, 12,500 in Pennsylvania and 9,000 in New Jersey alone

COMPLIANCE

Public health emergency revocation will unleash ‘traps for the unwary’

“Providers must resume compliance with the ‘regulations as written.’ I don’t think that was easy before the pandemic, but it’s going to be the expectation for regulators and the survey process May 11 on,” says Kathleen McDermott, partner at law firm Morgan Lewis in Washington, DC.

Being unaware of restored requirements at the federal or state levels could spell big regulatory trouble down the line. And this transition period could also be rife for the plaintiffs’ bar, which knows providers will have less ability to claim “COVID fog” as a defense with the government

Excelas’ structured Timelines are developed by its robust Comprehensive Integrated Timeline Tool, CITT (pronounced “kit”), which allows clients to incorporate key data with guidelines, regulations and standards in a variety of situations. Receive a brief summary of our findings, or simply pull out data points for your review.

LEGAL DECISIONS

‘Take-home’ COVID liability claims could set national precedent

Can an employer be held accountable for a spouse made deathly ill by the case of COVID-19 a loved one brought home from work?

The California Supreme Court will look to weigh in on a case that could set national precedent in so-called “take-home” liability claims. Long-term care professionals who worked in the most vulnerable COVID-19 settings of anyone are watching the case closely.

EXCELAS NEWS

Race for the Place is COMING SOON!

Race for the Place  is Sunday, June 4, 2023 – National Cancer Survivor Day – at Beachwood Place

Excelas’ team members will run 5K or walk 1 mile helping raise money to support free programs and services provided by The Gathering Place, which helps cancer patients, family and friends on the cancer    journey.

Didn’t join the team in time? It’s OK, you can show your support by donating! Thank you!

PERFORMANCE METRICS

Excelas, LLC April 2023 Performance Metrics

Excelas, LLC Performance Metrics as of April 30, 2023:
14,040 Records/Cases Reviewed
18,423,927 Pages Processed
376 Clients & Firms Supported
8,712 Hours of proprietary Zaxas software development
$1,045,492 investmenttmade in proprietary Zaxas software development

(Click on image to see which states are completed)

LATEST UPDATE

Excelas’ PREP Act Updates list summaries of relevant articles and selected court decisions, as well as additional recent court decisions, with hyperlinks for reference. We are continually updating cases as information becomes available. If you have insights to share, we welcome your contribution, with credit. The attached update is the most recent, including listings through early January 2023.