A 200-bed nursing home in Chicago was the recipient of an enhanced clinical management approach that contributed to relatively low mortality rates during an outbreak among high-risk residents, the doctors say. The new process is meant to be adopted by other facilities.
A new report on contact tracing in rural Illinois illustrates how a single community gathering can lead directly to infections in a skilled nursing facility, and the challenges associated with reopening to public events.
More than 430 nursing homes saw their first-ever COVID cases in early 2021, evidence that continued infection control measures are needed, and despite phenomenal declines in facility rates, says the U.S. PIRG.
Virtual infection prevention and control assessments reached four times as many skilled nursing facilities as onsite visits in the same timeframe, according to a study in 92 SNFs early in the pandemic.
The average U.S. case rate is falling, but almost a third of states have seen an increase, and one Kentucky facility’s outbreak shows how new COVID-19 variants and vaccination play a role in continued spread — or infection control.
Seniors are more likely to contract COVID-19 again — with only 47% protection against repeat infection, compared with 80% for younger people, according to a new, large-scale study from Denmark.
The agency has approved a $6.7 million proposal by Trilogy Health Services for a smart-entry screening platform to be implemented across 285 Kentucky Medicare-certified nursing homes.
Nursing homes saw a big jump in certain antibiotic prescriptions early in the pandemic, and more than half of hospitalized COVID-19 patients received antibiotics in the first six months, researchers say.
Gouverneur Health, a 295-bed skilled nursing facility, brought its average UTI rate to 2.13%, — lower than state and national benchmarks — and reduced its related care costs by 52% from the pre-intervention rate, said presenters at PALTC21.
“Facilities should allow responsible indoor visitation at all times” — no matter the vaccination status of resident or visitor, the agency now says. Its action follows the remarkable, apparent success of COVID vaccinations in slowing resident transmission rates.
