Update on Resident and Family Notification Requirements

On June 24, 2021, Governor Cuomo announced the end of the COVID-19 Health Emergency. As a result of the announcement, a number of questions have arisen about what requirements still remain in place for nursing homes. Resident and family notification has been one of the areas of confusion.

By Sept. 15, 2020, all nursing homes were required to prepare and make available to the public a Pandemic Emergency Plan (PEP). One element of the PEP was the requirement that the nursing home develop a communication plan that provides for the following:

1. Updates authorized family members and guardians of residents infected with the pandemic infectious disease at least once per day and upon a change in the resident’s condition;
2. Updates all residents and authorized family members and guardians once per week on the number of infections and deaths at the facility;
3. Provides all residents with daily access to free remote videoconferencing, or similar communication methods, with authorized family members and guardians; and
4. Provides that required communications must be by electronic means or other method selected by each family member or guardian.

With the Governor's declaration of the end of the COVID-19 Health Emergency, LeadingAge NY believes that the above requirements no longer are in place. However, the requirements to post the PEP on the facility website and make it available upon request we do believe remain in place.

Adding to the confusion about resident and family notification is the presence of the federal notification requirement outlined in memorandum QSO-20-29-NH, issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on May 6, 2020. As the federal government has not declared an end to the Public Health Emergency, the requirements for resident and family notification remain in place. QSO-20-29-NH requires the following:

Inform residents, their representatives, and families of those residing in facilities by 5 p.m. the next calendar day following the occurrence of either a single confirmed infection of COVID-19, or three or more residents or staff with new-onset of respiratory symptoms occurring within 72 hours of each other. This information must—

1. Not include personally identifiable information;
2. Include information on mitigating actions implemented to prevent or reduce the risk of transmission, including if normal operations of the facility will be altered; and
3. Include any cumulative updates for residents, their representatives, and families at least weekly or by 5 p.m. the next calendar day following the subsequent occurrence of either: each time a confirmed infection of COVID-19 is identified, or whenever three or more residents or staff with new onset of respiratory symptoms occur within 72 hours of each other.

In terms of how this information is to be communicated, CMS has given nursing homes considerable flexibility.

CMS notes that there are a variety of ways that facilities can meet this requirement, such as informing families and representatives through email listservs, website postings, paper notification, and/or recorded telephone messages. It does not expect facilities to make individual telephone calls to each resident’s family or responsible party to inform them that a resident in the facility has laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. Nursing homes are expected to take reasonable efforts to make it easy for residents, their representatives, and families to obtain the information facilities are required to provide.

Contact: Elliott Frost, efrost@leadingageny.org, 518-441-8761