(May 5, 2023) – White House to End Certain Vaccination Requirements
Effective Thursday, May 11, the White House will end the COVID-19 vaccine requirements for federal employees, federal contractors and international air travelers. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Homeland Security announced they will begin the process to end vaccination requirements for Head Start educators, CMS-certified health care facilities and certain noncitizens at the land border.
CMS Releases Hospital Data for Preview
The preview period is now open for hospitals participating in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting, Inpatient Quality Reporting, Outpatient Quality Reporting and Prospective Payment System-Exempt Cancer Hospital Quality Reporting programs to review data that will be publicly reported in July 2023. Additional information is available.
Rural Health Clinic COVID-19 Distribution Programs – Vaccines, Testing Supplies, Therapeutics
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-certified rural health clinics can receive COVID-19 vaccines, testing supplies, and COVID-19 antivirals directly from the federal Health Resources and Service Administration. Please reference the linked websites for additional information and enrollment instructions. Technical assistance resources for these programs are available through the National Association of Rural Health Clinics. Note: The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 bivalent vaccine for people 12 years of age and older is available to order through RHC Vaccine Distribution Program in both single and multi-dose vials. The single-dose option responds to widespread requests to allow greater flexibility for RHCs that may not have the demand or capacity to store multi-dose vials. Contact RHCVaxDistribution@hrsa.gov for more information.
Funding Opportunity – Screening and Treatment for Maternal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
The Health Resources and Services Administration will make 14 awards, each up to $750,000, to expand health care providers' capacity to screen, assess, treat, and refer pregnant and postpartum people for maternal mental health and substance use disorders. Eligible applicants are states, Native American tribes and tribal organizations. The closing date for the application is June 2. Click here for detailed information on how to apply.
FDA Requires Updates to Prescribing Information on All Opioids
The Food and Drug Administration announced on April 13 that the agency is requiring several updates to the prescribing information for both immediate-release and extended-release/long-acting opioids. The agency stated the revisions are being made to encourage safe use after it assessed available data. The updates will include that for all opioid pain, the risk of overdose increases as the dose increases. Updates to IR opioids state these products should not be used for an extended period unless the pain remains severe enough to require them and alternative treatments continue to be inadequate, and that many acute pain conditions treated in the outpatient setting require no more than a few days of an opioid pain medicine. FDA is also updating the approved use for ER/LA opioid pain medicines to recommend they be reserved for severe and persistent pain that requires an extended treatment period with a daily opioid pain medicine and for which alternative treatment options are inadequate. Information in the Boxed Warning, for all IR and ER/LA opioid pain medicines will be updated and reordered to elevate the importance of warnings concerning life-threatening respiratory depression, and risks associated with using opioid pain medicines in conjunction with benzodiazepines or other medicines that depress the central nervous system. Other changes are also being required to several sections of the prescribing information, including to the Indications and Usage, Dosage and Administration, and Warnings and Precautions sections.
Monovalent mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine Disposal and Reporting
As of April 19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer recommend the use of monovalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. As announced in the April 21 KS-HAN, in anticipation of this recommendation, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment placed orders for the monovalent vaccine on hold beginning on April 13th to avoid the delivery of the unauthorized vaccine. All pending orders for monovalent mRNA vaccines were canceled by KDHE. Bivalent vaccine orders were not impacted by this action. CDC now recommends the use of bivalent vaccines for all recommended mRNA COVID-19 vaccine dose(s). To minimize the risk of administration error, providers should:
- Remove all monovalent mRNA vaccines from storage units immediately, even if they are not expired. This includes both EUA and BLA products (Comirnaty and Spikevax)
- Once all inventory is fully accounted for, remove the monovalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccine from the vaccine inventory in KSWebIZ.
- Dispose of all monovalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccine vials in accordance with local, state, and federal regulations.
- Report all disposed inventory as wastage. For additional information, see IIS COVID-19 Vaccine Related Code | CDC.
Updates to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine schedule by the CDC are as follows:
- At the time of initial vaccination, depending on the vaccine product, children ages six months–four years are recommended to receive two or three bivalent mRNA vaccine doses; children age five years are recommended to receive one or two bivalent mRNA vaccine doses
- People ages six years and older who are unvaccinated or previously received only monovalent vaccine doses are recommended to receive one bivalent mRNA vaccine dose
- People age 65 years and older may receive one additional bivalent mRNA vaccine dose
HRSA Payment Program for RHC Buprenorphine-Trained Providers – Funds Still Available
As announced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in January 2023, clinicians no longer need DATA 2000 Waiver training to prescribe buprenorphine; however, the payment program to defray earlier training costs is still active. Launched in June 2021, the initiative pays for providers who previously received a waiver to prescribe buprenorphine. Rural health clinics still have the opportunity to apply for a $3,000 payment on behalf of each provider who previously trained to obtain the waiver necessary to prescribe buprenorphine after Jan. 1, 2019. Approximately $900,000 in program funding remains available for RHCs and will be paid on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are exhausted. Send questions to DATA2000WaiverPayments@hrsa.gov.
CMS Releases Hospital Price Transparency Enforcement Updates
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a fact sheet that includes updates about hospital price transparency enforcement actions. The fact sheet includes details about actions taken by CMS to ensure providers are compliant, including avenues for monitoring, methods for assessing hospitals' noncompliance and enforcement processes. CMS announced that enforcement actions to date include 730 warning notices and 269 requests for corrective action plans. CMS has imposed civil monetary penalties on four hospitals.
CMS Proposes Medicaid Access and Quality Rules
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released two proposed rules to strengthen Medicaid access, oversight and quality. One addresses Medicaid access generally, and the second focuses on managed care access and quality specifically. Both the access rule and the managed care rule were published in the Wednesday, May 3, Federal Register. There is a 60-day comment period, which ends Monday, July 3.
NHSN Announces Changes to COVID-19 Hospital Data Reporting Guidance
The National Healthcare Safety Network announced upcoming changes to COVID-19 Hospital Data Reporting Guidance, two of which are set to take place shortly after the conclusion of the COVID-19 PHE. The number of required hospital-reported data elements will reduce from 62 elements to 44 elements, and the reporting cadence will change from a daily reporting requirement to a weekly reporting requirement. The American Hospital Association released a Special Bulletin offering key highlights and perspectives regarding the upcoming changes.
TJC Seeks Public Comment on Draft Performance Measure
The Joint Commission invites public comment on a draft performance measure for the Advanced Certification in Perinatal Care Program PC-08 Timely Treatment of Severe Hypertension measure. Comments are accepted until Tuesday, May 23. Additional information is available.
NHSC New Site Application Opens Soon
Becoming a National Health Service Corps-approved site can help with recruitment and retention goals. To become an approved site, facilities must meet certain requirements. Benefits include the following:
MLN Connects Provider eNews Available
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued the following updates to MLN Connects Provider eNews: