CMS Vaccine Mandates: Compliance Impact on Medicare Certified Healthcare Providers

​SDAHO hosted Nancy Ruzicka on March 2 to inform Medicare certified organizations (hospitals, skilled nursing homes, home health and hospices) on the new requirements surrounding COVID-19 vaccinations with healthcare staff.  Nancy reviewed which individuals within Medicare certified organizations the mandate applies to, she described the reasonable accommodation process, and explained consequences of non-compliance.

Nancy detailed the specific requirements for a facility to be in compliance. Facilities must have written policies and procedures in place for vaccinating staff, providing exemptions and accommodations, and documenting current staff vaccinations no later than February 14, 2022. By March 15, 2022, 100% of staff are required to have received the necessary doses to complete the vaccine series or have been granted a qualifying exemption, or are identified as having a temporary delay as recommended by the CDC. After April 14, 2022 facilities must be in compliance within 90 days and thereafter following issuance of the memorandum, facilities failing to maintain compliance with the 100% standard may be subject to enforcement action.

Within this hour, she also covered qualified exemptions, documentation requirements, CMS enforcement, opportunities to return to compliance, and data reporting requirements.

SDAHO members click here to view this webinar. To view upcoming professional development opportunities, visit our event calendar.

Sessions scheduled for March:

• OSHA Update | March 8, 11am CT
• Emergency Preparedness in Home Health & Hospice | March 10, 11am CT
• Recognizing and Rewarding Employees | March 15, 11am CT
• Supporting Grieving Children through “Grief Gardening” | March 17, 11am CT
• Assessment and Staging of Pressure Injuries | March 22, 12pm CT
• Healthcare Finance 101 | March 23, 11am CT
• Beyond the Headaches:  Solutions to Staffing Challenges (Food & Nutrition Focused) | March 24, 11am CT
• ABC’s of Grant Management, Part 1 | March 29, 12pm CT
• Fundamentals of Resilience | March 31, 1pm CT

All SDAHO-hosted virtual education will be provided to members for no additional cost and these opportunities will be housed on SDAHO’s Member Portal. We encourage you and those within your facility to register within SDAHO’s Member Portal to view upcoming education and recorded sessions, access the membership directory, and register for events. To sign in, visit the webpage at www.sdaho.org and select ‘Member Login’, where you will then register or request a new password. We have created a Member’s Guide to assist you in navigating the site, click here.