The Pennsylvania Department of Health issued updated guidance for reporting point of care COVID-19 test results in Health Alert 534-10-30-UPD. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued Emergency Use Authorizations (EUA) for several COVID-19 point of care (POC) tests for rapid detection of SARSCoV-2. All entities conducting these POC tests are required to report these results, including positive, negative and inconclusive/indeterminate, to public health authorities through PA-NEDSS. Click here to access all 2020 health alerts, advisories and updates.

‘No Mercy’ is Season One of ‘Where It Hurts,’ a podcast about overlooked parts of the country where cracks in the health system leave people without the care they need. Our first destination is Fort Scott, Kansas.

Family physician Maxwell Self is doing his same old job for a new employer. For two decades he was a doctor with Mercy Hospital. But when Mercy packed up and left, a federally qualified health center moved to town — into the hospital building itself — and hired Dr. Self.

The Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas does things differently.

“What CHC says really has teeth and they’re solid,” Self said. “There’s real follow-through. And I have a lot more, I feel like, freedom to take care of people the way I want to and to get them what they need.”

With nutrition counseling and mental health and addiction services, and even things like arranging rides for patients, the center offers people what they need to be healthy, clinic executives said — not only health care for when they’re sick.

In the final chapter of the podcast, we also meet Sherise Beckham, 31, who lost work as a dietitian at Mercy when the hospital closed — just as she was expecting her second child.

“Initially, I cried a lot because I would be losing my job as well as losing a place to have my baby,” Beckham said.

Beckham helps explain how much more difficult it can be to have a baby when a town loses full-service maternity care. Then, later when she gets a job at — where else? — the new CHC clinic, Beckham gives us a front-row seat to the new vision for health care in Fort Scott.

Read more and access the podcast.

CMS hosts varied recurring stakeholder engagement sessions to share information related to the agency’s response to COVID-19. These sessions are open to members of the healthcare community and are intended to provide updates, share best practices among peers, and offer attendees an opportunity to ask questions of CMS and other subject matter experts.

Call details are below. Conference lines are limited so we highly encourage you to join via audio webcast, either on your computer or smartphone web browser. You are welcome to share this invitation with your colleagues and professional networks. These calls are not intended for the press.

Calls recordings and transcripts are posted on the CMS podcast page at: https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Outreach/OpenDoorForums/PodcastAndTranscripts

CMS COVID-19 Office Hours Calls (twice a month on Tuesday at 5:00 – 6:00 PM Eastern)

 Office Hour Calls provide an opportunity for hospitals, health systems, and providers to ask questions of agency officials regarding CMS’s temporary actions that empower local hospitals and healthcare systems to:

• Increase Hospital Capacity – CMS Hospitals Without Walls;
• Rapidly Expand the Healthcare Workforce;
• Put Patients Over Paperwork; and
• Further Promote Telehealth in Medicare

Next Office Hours:

Tuesday, November 17^th at 5:00 – 6:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 2491556

Audio Webcast link: https://engage.vevent.com/index.jsp?eid=5779&seid=2617

Weekly COVID-19 Care Site-Specific Calls  

CMS hosts calls for certain types of organizations on an intermittent basis to provide targeted updates on the agency’s latest COVID-19 guidance. One to two leaders in the field also share best practices with their peers. There is an opportunity to ask questions of presenters if time allows.

 Next Nursing Homes

Wednesday, November 18^th at 4:30 – 5:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 1335116 Audio Webcast Link: https://engage.vevent.com/index.jsp?eid=5779&seid=2721

For the most current information including call schedule changes, please click here

To keep up with the important work the White House Task Force is doing in response to COVID-19 click here: https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=36fa2226-6aae0b0d-36fa1319-0cc47a6d17cc-2d06c219f858d641&u=http://www.coronavirus.gov/. For information specific to CMS, please visit the Current Emergencies Website.

Since March, 36 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have enacted more than 79 bills changing telehealth policies, either permanently or temporarily, during the pandemic. This article published by the National Conference of State Legislatures discusses the details of that legislation. The article was funded through HRSA’s cooperative agreement with the National Organizations of State and Local Officials.

Read the article.

The non-profit supporting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers this collection of resources that help local public health agencies communicate about the pandemic.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is accepting comments on an Interim Final Rule, effective on December 4, pertaining to Information Blocking and the ONC Health IT Certification Program that were outlined in the ONC Cures Act Final Rule released in March 2020. Find more information here.

With funding support from the Health Resources and Services Administration, the National Conference of State Legislatures provides details of more than 79 bills changing telehealth policies in 36 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

By Tim Murphy and Tim Marema
Rural counties had record-breaking numbers of new infections, for the sixth consecutive week.
Read more