- GAO Seeks New Members for Tribal and Indigenous Advisory Council
- VA: Staff Sergeant Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program Funding Opportunity
- Telehealth Study Recruiting Veterans Now
- USDA Delivers Immediate Relief to Farmers, Ranchers and Rural Communities Impacted by Recent Disasters
- Submit Nominations for Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM) Committees
- Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation of the Medicare Program (Executive Order 14192) - Request for Information
- Dr. Mehmet Oz Shares Vision for CMS
- CMS Refocuses on its Core Mission and Preserving the State-Federal Medicaid Partnership
- Social Factors Help Explain Worse Cardiovascular Health among Adults in Rural Vs. Urban Communities
- Reducing Barriers to Participation in Population-Based Total Cost of Care (PB-TCOC) Models and Supporting Primary and Specialty Care Transformation: Request for Input
- Secretary Kennedy Renews Public Health Emergency Declaration to Address National Opioid Crisis
- Secretary Kennedy Renews Public Health Emergency Declaration to Address National Opioid Crisis
- 2025 Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Proposed Rule
- Rural America Faces Growing Shortage of Eye Surgeons
- Comments Requested on Mobile Crisis Team Services: An Implementation Toolkit Draft
Updated 65+ Flu Defense Website
To assist providers in maximizing protection for their patients, the Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) in collaboration with Seqirus, has updated the 65+ Flu Defense website. This helpful site includes information, tools and tips for communicating with adults, 65+, about the scope and severity of influenza. A new handout on the site, The Importance of Preventing Influenza during a Pandemic, offers responses to help guide discussions with patients on the increased importance of flu vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic.
HHS Expands Access to Telehealth Services Across State Lines for COVID19 Countermeasures
Modern Healthcare reported on Dec. 3, 2020, that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) authorized healthcare practitioners to provide telehealth services like COVID-19 diagnostic testing and other countermeasures across state lines for the duration of the public health emergency. HHS also made it easier for providers to get immunity from liability for COVID-related medical countermeasures.
FFCRA to Expire 12/31, But in the Meantime…
As of this moment, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2020. Considering the tense atmosphere in Washington D.C., renewal of FFCRA is not guaranteed. However, in these last weeks of 2020, it’s important to remember that FFCRA regulations were revised in mid-September due to a U.S. District Court decision. The U.S. Department of Labor regulations revised the definition of “healthcare provider” to “include only employees who meet the definition of that term under the Family and Medical Leave Act regulations or who are employed to provide diagnostic services, preventative services, treatment services, or other services that are integrated with and necessary to the provision of patient care which, if not provided, would adversely impact patient care.” Roles such at IT, HR, billing and maintenance may affect the provision of patient care, but they are not integrated with patient care. For more information, contact Andrea Wandling, Manager, PACHC Member Relations and Human Resources or Judd Mellinger-Blouch, Director of Pennsylvania Primary Care Career Center.
Childhood Vaccination Rates Have Plummeted
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused worldwide childhood vaccination rates for measles and polio to plummet, according to a November 2020 emergency call to action from the World Health Organization and UNICEF. Even when vaccines are available, the report says, people around the world have trouble accessing services because of lockdowns or fear of contracting COVID-19. If this issue is not addressed, it could lead to outbreaks of polio and measles. Nine million childhood vaccine doses may be missed in the U.S. in 2020. It is imperative that pediatricians make parents aware of established safeguards to prevent the spread of COVID-19, so that their children may continue to receive vaccines. Read more.
New Report Finds Nearly Half of All FQHC Patients Qualify for Phase One COVID-19 Vaccinations
For more than five decades, the nation’s community health centers have been a key part of broad scale immunization programs and will play an essential role in COVID-19 vaccination efforts. In a new analysis, researchers from the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative estimate that nearly half of all patients served by FQHCs qualify for phase one COVID-19 immunizations, following health care workers, residents of long-term care facilities and other essential workers, under priority guidelines established by the CDC. Health centers are uniquely positioned to reach deeply impoverished, disproportionately minority populations that face elevated health risks for COVID-19. Because of their deep roots in the community, health center clinicians are well positioned to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy concerns in historically underserved populations that may not trust the medical establishment, the researchers said. Targeting the highest-risk people and communities for COVID-19 vaccines and ensuring that they are effectively reached is a national public health priority, making FQHCs absolutely essential to a successful vaccine strategy, and funding support for health centers ever more crucial. Read, Nearly Half of Community Health Center Patients – an Estimated 14.1 Million of 29.8 Million People Served – Qualify for Phase One COVID-19 Vaccinations Because They Fall within the CDC’s Highest Risk Categories. Read the press release.
CMS Revises FQHC/RHC Telehealth Cost-Sharing Policy
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) earlier in the current public health emergency (PHE) issued New & Expanded Flexibilities for RHCs & FQHCs during the COVID-19 PHE, establishing the billing rules/amounts for FQHC/RHC distant site telehealth during the PHE. On Dec. 3, CMS revised the document to clarify the Medicare cost-sharing rules. Effective Jan. 27, 2020, for telehealth services with cost-sharing, the coinsurance will be 20 percent of the lesser of the allowed amount ($92.03) or the actual charges, and payment will be 80 percent of the lesser of the allowed amount or charges. Before the change, coinsurance was 20 percent of charges and Medicare’s payment was $92.03 minus the coinsurance. MACs will be automatically reprocessing claims for telehealth services furnished on or after Jan. 27, 2020, based on this new “lesser of” methodology.
Medicare Modifies Telehealth Payment Policy
Currently, during the public health emergency (PHE), FQHCs and other distant site telehealth providers may bill Medicare for certain telehealth services using audio-only telephone and CMS expanded the telehealth codes for the duration of the PHE to include telephonic E/M services (CPT 99441-99443). CMS sought comment on whether/how CMS should continue coverage of audio-only telephonic E/M services after the PHE and NACHC recommended that CMS continue to recognize these services as telehealth services. Instead, CMS finalized its proposal to eliminate those codes as telehealth codes and instead add a new G-code to the “virtual communication services” bundles payment to include an 11-21 minute medical discussion via audio-only phone (G2252), not limited to the PHE “Category 3 telehealth services.” Category 3 services are those that were added to the Medicare telehealth code list during the PHE for which there is likely to be clinical benefit when furnished via telehealth, but for which there isn’t yet evidence available to make them a permanent addition. CMS will now recognize these services on the telehealth list until the end of the calendar year in which the PHE ends. Examples include certain psychological and neuropsychological testing and physical and occupational therapy services.
COVID-19 Vaccination Update
The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) is managing the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines that will be received from the federal government. Providers can access the COVID-19 Vaccine Providers page on the DOH website for the most up-to-date information available. The state is expected to receive the Pfizer vaccines the week of Dec. 15 and the Moderna vaccine the week of Dec. 22. On a call last week, Tom McCleaf, Director, Division of Immunizations, DOH Bureau of Communicable Diseases, noted that the distribution phase 1A will cover all health care providers, or about one percent of the population. Phase 1A does not equate to week one. Pfizer vaccine comes in packages of 975 doses and requires extreme cold for storage. It is recommended that providers review their application:
· If you have not already done so, submit a COVID-19 Vaccine Administration application to DOH to be eligible to administer the vaccine if you are interested in doing so
· Visit the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) website, an excellent resource for providers
· Review the document Interim Recommendations for Allocating Initial Supplies of COVID-19 Vaccine
· Develop your plan for testing staff based on the guidance
NIOSH Offers Resources for Health Care Workers Administering Vaccines
Health care workers who are exposed to needles, for example, while administering vaccines, are at risk of sharps injury and exposure to bloodborne pathogens. NIOSH and our partners have many resources on how to keep health care workers safe. This includes information on how to reduce sharps injuries and what to do if you have a sharps injury.
We hope the resources below are useful. We encourage you to share this information with other health care personnel at risk for sharps injuries.
CDC/NIOSH Resources
- Ensuring the Proper PPE when Administering COVID-19 Vaccine
- Preparing Your Practice for COVID-19 Vaccination
- Preventing Needlesticks in Health Care Settings (Also Available in Spanish)
- Preventing Needlesticks and Sharps Injuries
- Stop Sticks Campaign
- What Every Worker Should Know: How to Protect Yourself From Needlestick Injuries (Also Available in Spanish)
OSHA Resources
FDA Takes Key Action in Fight Against COVID-19 By Issuing Emergency Use Authorization for First COVID-19 Vaccine
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for the prevention of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for individuals 16 years of age and older caused by SARS-CoV-2. This EUA represents the first vaccine authorized for the prevention of COVID-19.
The FDA has determined that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine has met the statutory criteria for issuance of an EUA. The totality of the available data provides clear evidence that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine may be effective in preventing COVID-19. The data also support that the known and potential benefits outweigh the known and potential risks, supporting the vaccine’s use in millions of people 16 years of age and older, including healthy individuals. In making this determination, the FDA can assure the public and medical community that it has conducted a thorough evaluation of the available safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality information.
A link to the full FDA press release is here. The press release also provides information and discussion on available safety and effectiveness data.
You can review the full Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine EUA Letter of Authorization here.
In addition to the EUA letter, see below:
Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers Administering Vaccine (Vaccine Providers)
Fact Sheet for Recipients and Caregivers
Operation Warp Speed and private sector partners now begin distributing the first allocation of doses to sites designated by the public health jurisdictions and five federal agencies with which OWS and CDC have been working to plan distribution. HHS Secretary Alex M Azar II and Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher C. Miller have issued statements on this next step, and they can be viewed here.
For more information on COVID-19 vaccines, the EUA process, and guidance to industry for developing a COVID-19 vaccine please visit:
Emergency Use Authorization for Vaccines Explained
Emergency Use Authorization for Vaccines to Prevent COVID-19; Guidance for Industry
Development and Licensure of Vaccines to Prevent COVID-19; Guidance for Industry