This ICAR form guides observations on water exposure risks in acute care, long-term care, and outpatient healthcare facilities, excluding hemodialysis settings. Separate resources are available for hemodialysis facility assessments.

ICAR Module 11 assesses infection risks from water exposures and related policies in healthcare facilities, excluding hemodialysis settings.

ICAR tools help healthcare facilities assess and improve infection prevention practices, with modules for acute care, long-term care, and outpatient settings. Not for use in outpatient hemodialysis; separate tools available.

Fall 2023: CDC advises one dose of updated Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccine for all Americans 6 months and older against XBB.1.5. Novavax available for others. See FDA's 2023-2024 COVID-19 Vaccines Announcement for details.

Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBP) Steps

Protect nursing home residents from evolving health threats like MDROs with Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBP) to stop the spread of germs.

As the landscape of healthcare delivery changes, antibiotic stewardship guidance is evolving to support stewardship implementation, and ensure appropriate treatment of infections for all patients across the healthcare spectrum.

This form is intended to guide observations of processes used in healthcare laundry whether it is performed on or offsite. This form is limited to healthcare textiles, examples of which include bed linens, towels, washcloths, patient gowns, and uniforms owned by the facility and used in patient or resident care. It is not intended to evaluate personal laundry, such as long-term care resident clothing. 

This form is intended to guide observations of wound care practices at the healthcare facility. For the purposes of this tool, wound care refers to local care (e.g., debridement, dressing changes) to facilitate healing of breaks in the skin (e.g., ulcers, surgical wounds). While the practices being assessed (e.g., prevention of cross-transmission) apply wherever wound care is performed, the level of detail included in the tool is likely not sufficient to fully assess practices in specialty areas like burn units.

This form is intended to guide observations related to POC blood testing performed and equipment used by the healthcare facility. 

The Dietary Guidelines is designed for professionals to help all individuals ages 2 years and older and their families consume a healthy, nutritionally adequate diet. The information in the Dietary Guidelines is used in developing Federal food, nutrition, and health policies and programs.

This new Knowledge on Demand platform offers awareness trainings on these five cybersecurity topics: social engineering, ransomware, loss or theft of equipment or data, insider accidental or malicious data loss, and attacks against network connected medical devices.

A decision support tool assists prescribers in choosing treatment for common infections in nursing home residents. By selecting the infection type and answering questions, users are informed if minimum antibiotic criteria are met (green checkmark) or suggested alternative actions (red "X").

This page outlines strategies for overdose prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery.

Semiannual Report to Congress summarizing the activities of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG), for the 6-month period ending on March 31, 2023.

AHRQ’s SHARE Approach is a five-step process for shared decision making that includes exploring and comparing the benefits, harms, and risks of each option through meaningful dialogue about what matters most to the patient.

CLAS is a way to improve the quality of services provided to all individuals, which will ultimately help reduce health disparities and achieve health equity. CLAS is about respect and responsiveness: Respect the whole individual and Respond to the individual’s health needs and preferences.

This publication summarizes AHRQ’s investments in this promising pathway toward better care, including examples of project findings and products, collective outputs, and impacts of this work. 

This Patient Safety Chartbook is part of a family of documents and tools that support the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (NHQDR). The NHQDR is an annual report to Congress mandated in the Healthcare Research and Quality Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-129

Building relationships with external partners that reflect the lived experience of individuals served by your organization can help you understand how best to meet those individuals’ needs and ultimately end disparities. Thoughtful outreach, feedback mechanisms, and engagement are foundational to building long-term, reciprocal relationships with diverse communities

CMS launched the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model on July 31, 2023, a voluntary initiative to aid individuals with dementia and their caregivers. Letters of interest are accepted until September 15, 2023, with a full Request for Applications (RFA) expected in Fall 2023. The model begins on July 1, 2024, spanning eight years.

CMS is empowered to take proactive steps through 1135 waivers as well as, where applicable, authority granted under section 1812(f) of the Social Security Act (the Act) and rapidly expand the Administration’s aggressive efforts against COVID-19. As a result, the following blanket waivers are in effect, with a retroactive effective date of March 1, 2020 through the end of the emergency declaration.

The Administration is taking aggressive actions and exercising regulatory flexibilities to help healthcare providers contain the spread of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). CMS is empowered to take proactive steps through 1135 waivers as well as, where applicable, authority granted under section 1812(f) of the Social Security Act (the Act) and rapidly expand the Administration’s aggressive efforts against COVID-19. As a result, the following blanket waivers are in effect, with a retroactive effective date of March 1, 2020 through the end of the emergency declaration.

The CMS Innovation Center held a virtual listening session as part of our continuing partnership with patients.

The How to Upload an Assessment for MDS Users training video provides steps for uploading MDS assessments to iQIES.

Effective with the July 2023 refresh, CMS revised the nursing-home level exclusion criteria on erroneously high number of administrators applied to the administrator turnover measure.

The CMS Framework for Health Equity provides a strong foundation for our work as a leader and trusted partner dedicated to advancing health equity, expanding coverage, and improving health outcomes. This includes strengthening our infrastructure for assessment, creating synergies across the health care system to drive structural change, and identifying and working together to eliminate barriers to CMS-supported benefits, services, and coverage for individuals and communities who are underserved or disadvantaged and those who support them.

This is an audio series that gives you a closer look at the projects and the people who are improving health care quality and outcomes. These brief conversations include detailed show notes for even more insights into the process behind health care quality improvement – and how you might adapt these to your own organization.

This document contains the answers to frequently asked questions about The Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP

This document outlines the program audit process for 2022. CMS will send engagement letters to initiate routine audits beginning February 2022 through July 2022. Engagement letters for ad hoc audits may be sent at any time throughout the year. The program areas for the 2022 audits include: CDAG-Part D Coverage Determinations, Appeals, and Grievances; CPE: Medicare Part C and Part D Compliance Program Effectiveness; FA--Part D Formulary and Benefit Administration; MMP-SARAG--Medicare-Medicaid Plan Service Authorization Requests, Appeals, and Grievances; MMPCC--Medicare-Medicaid Plan Care Coordination; ODAG--Part C Organization Determinations, Appeals, and Grievances; SNP-CC--Special Needs Plans – Care Coordination

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Treatment Guidelines is published in an electronic format that can be updated in step with the rapid pace and growing volume of information regarding the treatment of COVID-19. The COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel (the Panel) is committed to updating this document to ensure that health care providers, patients, and policy experts have the most recent information regarding the optimal management of COVID-19 (see the Panel Roster for a list of Panel members). New Guidelines sections and recommendations and updates to existing Guidelines sections are developed by working groups of Panel members. All recommendations included in the Guidelines are endorsed by a majority of Panel members (see the Introduction for additional details on the Guidelines development process). Major revisions to the Guidelines within the past month are as follows:

Everyone who has symptoms that are consistent with COVID-19 and people with known high-risk exposures to SARS-CoV-2 should be tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Such testing should employ either a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) or an antigen test to detect SARS-CoV-2. Testing may also be used for screening, determining the length of a patient’s isolation period, and other nondiagnostic purposes.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Treatment Guidelines is published in an electronic format that can be updated in step with the rapid pace and growing volume of information regarding the treatment of COVID-19. The COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel (the Panel) is committed to updating this document to ensure that health care providers, patients, and policy experts have the most recent information regarding the optimal management of COVID-19 (see the Panel Roster for a list of Panel members). New Guidelines sections and recommendations and updates to existing Guidelines sections are developed by working groups of Panel members. All recommendations included in the Guidelines are endorsed by a majority of Panel members (see the Introduction for additional details on the Guidelines development process). Major revisions to the Guidelines within the past month are as follows:

Pain can have negative effects leading to prolonged hospital stays. Determining the presence of uncontrolled and untreated pain in patients with cognitive impairments such as delirium, dementia, and delirium superimposed on dementia (DSD) is challenging. One tool commonly suggested for use in assessment of pain in older adults with cognitive impairment is the Pain Assessment In Advanced Dementia (PAINAD) scale. Proper use of the PAINAD scale as part of a comprehensive pain management plan can help reduce the likelihood of a patient experiencing unrecognized and untreated pain. Using an individual example, this article illustrates best practices in pain assessment and management for a woman experiencing DSD during an acute hospitalization.

Antibiotics are among the most frequently prescribed medications in nursing homes, with up to 70% of residents in a nursing home receiving one or more courses of systemic antibiotics when followed over a year. (3,4) Similar to the findings in hospitals, (5,6) studies have shown that 40–75% of antibiotics prescribed in nursing homes may be unnecessary or inappropriate. (3,4) Harms from antibiotic overuse are significant for the frail and older adults receiving care in nursing homes.

This booklet includes the forms needed for maintaining occupational injury and illness records. Many but not all employers must complete the OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping forms on an ongoing basis. Employers in State Plan States should check with their State Plan to see if the exemptions below apply.

Employers with 10 or fewer employees throughout the previous calendar year do not need to complete these forms. In addition to the small employer exemption, there is an exemption for establishments classified in certain industries. A
complete list of exempt industries can be found on the OSHA web page at https://www.osha.gov/recordkee... .

There are three different session lengths for you to choose from based on time available for training:

1. 60 minutes (e.g., dedicated training session)
2. 20 minutes (e.g., “Lunch and Learn” or agenda add-on)
3. 10 minutes (e.g., “micro-learning” or agenda add-on)

Due to time constraints, the 10- and 20-minute sessions will have less opportunity for interactive discussion. We invite you to extend sessions for greater engagement whenever possible. We have also provided recommendations for using chat functions and other activities to draw your audience into the materials when you are limited to only a short amount of time.

These time lengths are not intended to be prescriptive and are instead provided simply as a tool that you may tailor to best match your specific audience and needs. When you schedule your session, use your knowledge of your audience’s availability and learning needs to adapt these materials as needed.

 

The International Council on Active Aging (ICAA), a prominent association shaping the active-aging industry, and Age of Majority (AoM), a research-driven marketing consultancy, have released a first-of-its-kind report capturing and comparing the perspectives of professionals working within the senior living industry, as well as older adults who are potential residents or customers.

For the second year in a row, the early death rate continued to increase, reversing a decade-long decline. Other challenges affecting older adults included an ongoing rise in drug deaths and increases in multiple chronic conditions, frequent physical distress, physical inactivity and poverty. A new measure in this year’s report shows that many older adults spent more than 30% of their income on housing. Despite these challenges, the number of geriatric providers and home health care workers per capita both increased, while food insecurity continued to decline amid increases in home-delivered meals.

The word ‘outbreak’ strikes fear in the hearts of everyone working in long-term care. However, there are ways to become centered and replace the fear with empowerment. Steven J. Schweon, RN, MPH, MSN, CIC, LTC-CIP, CPHQ, FSHEA, FAPIC, a Pennsylvania-based infection preventionist and consultant, offered some insights to get on this path.

While drinking any amount of alcohol carries risk, mixing alcohol with certain medications can cause nausea, vomiting, headaches, drowsiness, fainting, or loss of coordination. Alcohol can also make some medicines less effective or even harmful to the body.

Clinical criteria guide patient care decisions based on symptoms and patient factors, prioritizing treatment over strict disease definitions. Surveillance criteria track infections retrospectively to monitor facility infection rates, not for immediate treatment decisions. Loeb criteria help decide when to start antibiotics based on likely infections. McGeer and NHSN criteria are for surveillance: McGeer counts infections with detailed data, NHSN provides standardized data for benchmarking infection rates, not for immediate decisions.

Assessing and counseling older drivers. 

Opioids encompass a range of drugs, including legal prescription painkillers like oxycodone and illegal substances like heroin and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.