Long-Term Care Survey Alert
SURVEY & CLINICAL NEWS TO USE
PDF
CMS has corrected an error in survey guidance for F441 specifying the strength of a disinfectant bleach solution. The previous guidance stated that "cleaning equipment used for residents with C. difficile with a 1:10 dilution of sodium hypochlorite (
"Get Up to Speed Fast With the New Infection Control Guidance" in Vol. 11, No. 10, which will be corrected in the online version.
In addition, CMS has made minor changes to the examples for Severity Level 4.
CMS has rescinded Transmittal 54, dated Nov. 30, 2009, and replaced it with Transmittal 55 (Dec. 2, 2009), which includes the corrections.
If you're using Negative Pressure Wound Therapy
(NPWT) devices (i.e., wound vacs), be aware of a new preliminary public health warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The "FDA has received reports of six deaths and 77 injuries associated with NPWT systems over the past two years," the agency reports in a Nov. 13 health notice. Most of the deaths and serious injuries related to NPWT systems occurred in the home or in long-term care facilities, the FDA says.Bleeding represented the most serious wound vac-related complication, which was associated with six deaths and 17 injuries, according to the FDA. "Extensive bleeding occurred in patients with blood vessel grafts in the leg, breastbone and groin wounds, those receiving medication for blood clots, and during removal of dressings attached to the tissues. Patients with bleeding required emergency room visits and/or hospitalization and were treated with surgery and blood transfusions," states a report on the FDAWeb site.
Twenty-seven reports involved "worsening infection from original open infected wounds or from pieces of dressing that remained in the wound," the FDA reports. And "32 reports noted injury from foam dressing pieces and foam sticking to tissues or clinging to the wound." Most of the afflicted patients required surgery, antibiotics, and hospitalization.
Read the warnings at www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/PublicHealthNotifications.
Long-Term Care Survey Alert
- ASSESSMENT:
Predictive Pain Model Flags Residents at Risk for Having Unrelieved Pain
If a resident coded without pain has these conditions, take a closer look. To identify [...] - SURVEY MANAGEMENT:
Follow These 'Lessons Learned' for Staying Off CMS' Special Focus Facility List
Find out how a once troubled facility moved ahead of the QI curve. Learning that [...] - Look for Pain's Indirect Effects to Identify People Who Need Better Assessment or Rx
Pain can cause increasing cognitive impairment. Pain can be pervasive and show up in a [...] - SURVEY MANAGEMENT:
Got Electronic Health Records? Follow These Strategies for Meeting Surveyors' Needs and Keeping F Tags at Bay
Refusing to do this task can put your facility on the road to decertification. If [...] - PHARMACY:
To Dispose of Controlled Meds,Your Facility Needs a Well Thought Out Plan
Environmental concerns up the ante for managing this common task. A patient dies or goes [...] - TOOL:
Computerized Reports Flag Residents Whose MDSs Show They May Have Undetected Pain (Also see the next page) - Care Tip:
Reiki Can Be an Effective Pain Management and Spiritual Aid
Is your facility incorporating this modality in its toolkit? Opioids remain the gold standard for [...] - SURVEY & CLINICAL NEWS TO USE
CMS has corrected an error in survey guidance for F441 specifying the strength of a [...]