PREP ACT LIABILITY

Pandemic-era rules sometimes conflict with state-level guidelines

“The public health emergency may be ending, but the recovery from the pandemic continues,” AHCA/NCAL noted in a news release, adding that long-term care continues to struggle to rebuild its workforce. “Our main priority is to encourage Congress and the administration to make meaningful investments that will help us attract and retain a pipeline of caregivers and protect access to care for our nation’s seniors.”

Assisted living providers that used countermeasures — including COVID-19 tests — made available through emergency use authorizations could receive liability protection under the PREP Act that preempts state law liability claims. But several cases winding their way through the courts are challenging those protections.

FALLS PREVENTION

Deaths caused by falls are on the rise among US seniors

According to CNA Insurance Aging Services 2022 Claim Report data, resident falls account for over 40% of closed claims across aging services settings, with an average paid indemnity of over $226,000.

According to a new 20-year study, deaths from falls rose from more than 10,000 in 1999 to more than 36,000 in 2020, with a total of more than 478,000 occurring among US adults aged 65 years or older during the 21-year study period. Falls remain the leading cause of injury among older adults in the United States and among the top causes of death.

The Excelas Comprehensive Integrated Timeline Tool, CITT (pronounced “kit”) allows clients to evaluate key data which can be quickly extracted, organized, and presented to document compliance with policies and practices.

CDC COVID GUIDELINES

COVID cases go to trial …

In the Briggs vs. Life Care Centers of America, et al. case in U.S. District Court for Western Washington, the plaintiffs, whose family members died in March 2020, allege the facility did not follow its own policy on outbreak control and management. 

Life Care Centers argues it could not prevent COVID-19 from entering or spreading through the facility and “they followed all applicable guidance and regulations in early 2020….” The federal jury found that the company was not at fault for the women’s deaths. At issue in the trial was the lack of availability of guidance about the virus from federal and state agencies in early 2020.

As the Public Health Emergency was declared, Excelas, in conjunction with our clients, built a database to archive over 10,000 documents published by various regulatory agencies which is merged with a healthcare organization’s policies and procedures.  Excelas’ C-19 Comprehensive Integrated Timeline Tool (CITT) generates reports to demonstrate that a facility was in compliance with the standards that were in place at any given time throughout the pandemic. (click the image to learn more)

LAST UPDATE

PREP Act

Now that the Public Health Emergency (PHE) has ended, Excelas’ PREP Act Updates will only be available to subscribers via the newsletter.

The last and latest list of summaries of relevant articles and selected court decisions, as well as additional recent court decisions, with hyperlinks for reference through May 23, 2023 is linked below.

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)

IN THEIR OWN WORDS