The Department of Public Health has announced it is making funding available to nursing homes and rest homes to purchase communicative technology. We encourage you to complete the application which is due Monday, May 11th. If you need assistance with equipment and pricing information, please contact Ann Marie Antolini at Mass Senior Care Association.

During National Nurses’ Week, Mass Senior Care want to thank you all for the extraordinary work you do each and every day and know that our number one priority is to provide you with the support and resources necessary to keep our facility staff safe and our residents well cared for.

CDC has launched a new mini webinar training series for frontline long-term care and nursing home staff. This series of 5 short webinars reviews basic infection prevention steps including: proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and facemasks, how and when to perform hand hygiene, how and when to clean surfaces, and the need to check residents and staff daily for symptoms of COVID-19.

The Interim final rule from CMS last night also delays implementation of new MDS items for SNF QRP. This delay will enable SNFs to continue using the current version of the MDS 3.0 v1.17.1. CMS will require SNFs to collect data on the transfer of health information measures and SPADES data on October 1 of the 1st of the year that is at least two full fiscal years after the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

This week clinical audits have begun for nursing facilities statewide. As discussed on the webinar last week, nursing facilities are being assessed on 5 core competencies included in the Infection Control Competency Checklist.

Mass Senior Care has learned the Executive Office of Health & Human Services (EOHHS) is planning to provide further testing guidance later this week. EOHHS has indicated that to meet this requirement, baseline testing will now be defined as 90% of residents being tested and 90% of employed staff who were tested on or after April 8th.

To further assist nursing facilities in meeting the May 25th requirement to conduct baseline COVID-19 testing on residents and staff, below is a summary of testing options. While the Executive Office of Health & Human Services (EOHHS) will provide further testing guidance in the next day, EOHHS has indicated that to meet this requirement baseline will be defined as 90% of residents being tested and 90% of employed staff who were tested on or after April 8th.

Memorandum To: Mass Senior Care Members From: Tara Gregorio, President Re: COVID-19 Updates: Communicative Technology for Long Term Care Facilities; Webinar to Review Cohorting and PPE; DPH Weekly Call Reminder; CMS COVID-19 Stakeholder Engagement Call Date: May 6, 2020 Communicative Technology for LTCFs - Application for Funding The Department of Public Health has announced that it is making funding available to nursing homes and rest homes to purchase communicative technology. Please note that there are different requirements and corresponding documents

Memorandum To: Mass Senior Care Members From: Tara Gregorio, President Re: Baseline Testing of Nursing Home Residents and Staff - Complete Enclosed Survey Date: May 2, 2020 As a condition of the Commonwealth’s Phase 2 $130 million investment in nursing facility care, all nursing facilities must adhere to a number of criteria including core infection control competencies, data reporting and baseline COVID-19 testing. Facilities are required to perform baseline testing by May 25, 2020. The Executive Office of Health &