Nursing home providers can now participate in an “unprecedented” infection control training program designed to help them better manage COVID-19 in their facilities.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released details about the program Tuesday. The program was originally announced in late July as part of an additional $5 billion in coronavirus relief funding for nursing homes.
The program, which is available immediately to all Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes, is a tailored course that incorporates the most recent lessons learned by nursing homes during the ongoing pandemic. It also features best practices that frontline workers can implement to fight COVID-19 in their facilities, CMS Administrator Seema Verma explained during a press call Tuesday.
“CMS is taking unprecedented action to ensure that nursing homes are doubling down on efforts to prevent the spread of the virus,” Verma said.
There are five training modules for staff members, and 10 modules for management.
The training program for staff members covers multiple concerns found by surveyors and strike teams. Topics include: hand hygiene and personal protective equipment, screening and surveillance, cleaning, cohorting and caring for residents with dementia during the pandemic.
Training for management also focuses on institution-wide issues, like implementation of telehealth, emergency preparedness and vaccine delivery.
“The training builds upon results of CMS nursing home inspections and the findings of epidemiological experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who work with nursing homes,” the agency stated.
“The design was also influenced by the findings of federal nursing home task force strike teams, through which experts from CMS and CDC were deployed to nursing homes actively battling COVID-19 outbreaks in hot spot areas over the summer,” it added.
Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) are also being directed to include the training the action plans it develops for nursing homes. CMS said the move will help ensure that “nursing homes are building the training into their existing quality improvement efforts.”
The training is available through the agency’s Quality, Safety & Education Portal. In addition to the training, providers can also participate in bi-weekly webinars, which start Thursday, aimed at helping them prevent and manage the disease.
