CMS Issues Memo to Clarify Expectations of Hospital Surveys During Pandemic
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Center for Clinical Standards and Quality has issued a
memo that clarifies expectations regarding hospital surveys during the ongoing Covid-19 global pandemic.
According to the memo, surveys will be limited to “Immediate Danger” complaint allegations for the 30 days following the memo’s release on Jan. 20. The memo also said hospital recertification surveys would be suspended for the most part. Meanwhile, hospital enforcement actions for deficiencies that do not represent “Immediate Jeopardy” will have their termination date extended for at least 30 days.
The memo is also posted on NABH’s Covid-19 resources
webpage.
HHS Releases Call to Action to Implement the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention
HHS has released
The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Implement the National Suicide Prevention Strategy (
National Strategy), a 92-page guide from Jerome Adams, M.D., M.P.H., the nation’s most recent U.S. surgeon general.
First released in 2001, the
National Strategy was updated in collaboration with the Action Alliance in 2012. It identifies 13 goals and 60 objectives that address every aspect of suicide prevention—from fostering healthy and empowered individuals, families, and communities to providing effective prevention programs and clinical care.
The guide is categorized into the following six action areas: activating a broad-based public health response to suicide, addressing upstream factors that impact suicide, ensuring lethal means safety, supporting adoption of evidence-based care for suicide risk, enhancing crisis care and care transitions, and improving the quality, timeliness, and use of suicide-related data.
Adams served as U.S. surgeon general from September 2017 until Jan. 20, 2021. This week President Biden appointed Rear Admiral Susan Orsega, M.S.N. as acting U.S. surgeon general pending Senate confirmation of Vivek Murthy, M.D., M.B.A, who served as U.S. surgeon general from 2014 through 2017 in the Obama administration. Orsega has served in the surgeon general’s office since March 2019.
In a
letter this week to the Biden administration, the Kennedy Forum, Mental Health America, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness urged policymakers to integrate the nation’s mental health and addiction response in the fight against Covid-19 and listed suicide prevention as one of the priorities.
Coalition Endorses Principles to Guide State and Local Spending of Opioid Litigation Settlement Funds
The faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has coordinated a coalition of 31 professional and advocacy organizations that has released
Principles for the Use of Funds from the Opioid Litigation, which provides five principles to help guide state and local spending of the forthcoming opioid litigation settlement funds. NABH was one of the organizations to endorse the principles.
An announcement noted the guidelines are meant to avoid mistakes made in the 1988 tobacco litigation settlement and support efforts based on evidence to save lives.
“As states, counties, and municipalities begin receiving funds from entities that exacerbated America’s opioid overdose crisis, it will be critical for decision makers to use that money wisely,” Paul Earley, M.D., president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, said in the announcement. “To make the most of this opportunity, state and local leaders should invest in evidence-based approaches to prevent and treat addiction, promote racial equity, and save lives.”
The five principles include spending money to save lives, using evidence to guide spending, investing in youth prevention, focusing on racial equity, and developing a fair and transparent process for deciding where to spend the funding.
Research Shows Schizophrenia Second to Age as Greatest Risk Factor for Covid-19 Death
A new study shows people with schizophrenia, a mental disorder that affects mood and perception of reality, are nearly three times as likely to die from the coronavirus than those without the psychiatric illness.
Researchers at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine led the study, which found that schizophrenia is by far the biggest factor (2.7 times increased odds of dying) after age (being 75 and older increased the odds of dying 35.7 times).
“Our findings illustrate that people with schizophrenia are extremely vulnerable to the effects of Covid-19, lead author Katlyn Nemani, M.D., said in a news release about the study. “With this newfound understanding, healthcare providers can better prioritize vaccine distribution, testing, and medical care for this group.”
The study was published this week in
JAMA Psychiatry.
Center for Connected Health Policy to Host Telehealth Policy Webinar Next Week
The Center for Connected Health Policy will host
Telehealth & Medicaid: What’s Next? A Roadmap for Telehealth Beyond the Pandemic next Friday, Feb. 5, 2021 at 2 p.m. ET.
The webinar will feature experts in a panel discussion about what the future looks like for telehealth policy in Medicaid. Attendees will hear from high-level administrators and policy staff from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment Advisory Commission (MACPAC), the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, and the Oregon Health Authority.
Click
here to learn more and to register.
Save the Date: NABH 2021 Annual Meeting
NABH will host its 2021 Annual Meeting from Wednesday, Oct. 6 – Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC.
The association re-scheduled for this later date in 2021 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We hope you can join us!
After 2021, NABH will host its subsequent Annual Meetings in June. Please save the date for these future NABH Annual Meetings:
We look forward to seeing you again in Washington!
Fact of the Week
A new
study reports 46% of health care workers say their mental health has worsened during the pandemic, while 38% say there’s been no change.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond