Review New CMS Vaccines Rule: It May Soon Apply to More Facilities. The federal agency is seeking comment, which is due 90 days after it is formally published in the Federal Register.

1. Review New CMS Vaccines Rule: It May Soon Apply to More
Facilities

2. • The federal agency is seeking comment, which is due 90 days after it is formally published in the
Federal Register. It is set to be published May 13, meaning the deadline for comment is August 11.
• CMS pre-published an interim final rule today that sets COVID-19 vaccine requirements for long-
term care (LTC) facilities and intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities
(ICFs-IID).
• The changes to the Conditions of Participation (CoP) for those facilities primarily require vaccines to
be offered to residents, clients, and staff when available. They also set education and CDC reporting
requirements.
• While the rule covers only those two types of facilities so far, CMS notes in the rule it may want to
expand those requirements to other healthcare organizations, including psychiatric hospitals and
inpatient hospice facilities
• The federal agency is seeking comment, which is due 90 days after it is formally published in the
Federal Register. It is set to be published May 13, meaning the deadline for comment is August 11.

3. • In announcing the interim rule, CMS noted that to “ensure LTC facilities receive support
for COVID-19 vaccination efforts, they are now required to report weekly vaccination data of
residents and staff to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National
Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), the nation’s most widely used healthcare-associated
infection tracking system.”
• “LTC facilities are already required to report COVID-19 testing, case, and mortality data to the
NHSN for residents and staff, but have not been required to report vaccination data. As data
becomes available, CMS will post facility-specific vaccination status information reported to the
NHSN for viewing by facilities, stakeholders, and the public on CMS’ COVID-19 Nursing Home
Data website.”
• CMS’ Quality Safety and Oversight (QSO) Group has also published a new memo, QSO-21-19-
NH, for state survey agencies saying surveyor tools to assess compliance with the new rule have
already been updated with the new expectations.

4. • Those expectations include “new requirements for educating residents or resident
representatives and staff regarding the benefits and potential side effects associated with the
COVID-19 vaccine, and offering the vaccine,” said the memo.
• “Transparency: CMS will post the new information reported to the NHSN for viewing by
facilities, stakeholders, or the general public on CMS’s COVID-19 Nursing Home Data
website,” told surveyors.
• “Noncompliance related to the new requirements for educating and offering COVID-19
vaccination to residents and staff will be cited at F-tag 887, and noncompliance related to
COVID-19 vaccination reporting will be cited at F-tag 884.”
• The QSO memo also offers information to surveyors on vaccine administration, vaccine refusal
and documentation, as well as a list of online resources for additional information.

5. To know more about the New CMS Vaccines Rules
Visit: https://allzonems.com/blog/