Policy Updates

CMS has updated the Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Quality Measure Calculations and Reporting User’s Manual Version 6.0 for post-acute care (PAC) settings. These documents update the specifications used to calculate quality measures that are included in the CMS QRPs. Read the updated manuals for the Skilled Nursing Facility QRP, Inpatient Rehab Facility QRP, and Long-Term … Continued

NIOSH is observing Respiratory Protection Week September 3-6, 2024. The observance began as N95 Day on September 5, 2012 (9/5, get it?), and was expanded to a week-long observance in 2019 to mark the 100th anniversary of the first respirator certification program in the U.S. NIOSH marks the week by providing resources for workers who … Continued

The FDA approved and granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccines with the 2024-2025 formula that more closely targets the currently circulating variants. Read more.

The FDA will host a webinar to discuss new guidance to clarify the distinction between servicing and remanufacturing medical devices, and the different regulatory responsibilities for these activities. The webinar will be on Tuesday, September 10 at 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET. Read more.

The CDC issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory to notify clinicians and public health authorities of an increase in Oropouche virus disease in the Americas, originating from endemic areas in the Amazon basin and new areas in South America and the Caribbean. Between January 1 and August 1, 2024, more than 8,000 cases … Continued

The CDC issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory to notify healthcare providers, public health authorities, and the public about current increases in human parvovirus B19 activity in the U.S. Parvovirus B19 is a highly transmissible seasonal respiratory virus that is transmitted through respiratory droplets by people with symptomatic or asymptomatic infection. In the U.S., there … Continued

Beginning November 1, CMS will require acute care hospitals and critical access hospitals to electronically report information via NHSN about COVID-19, influenza, and RSV. This reporting will have a new standardized format and frequency in order to provide situational awareness of the impact of these respiratory diseases. Please watch for additional information from the NHSN … Continued

CDC is offering a training webinar to help NHSN users learn more about the impact that the 2022 HAI Rebaseline may have on facility or group standardized infection ratios (SIRs). The training webinar will be available twice – August 20 and 21. Participants must register in advance to get a link to the webinar. Register … Continued

The CDC issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Update to alert clinicians about a possible spread of clade I Mpox virus (MPXV) that was first reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in December 2023. In April 2024 a clade I MPXV outbreak was declared in the Republic of Congo and there … Continued