HHS Launches Telehealth Resource Site

HHS has launched a Telehealth site to provide guidance to patients and providers during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. The HHS Telehealth site’s patient page includes telehealth definitions, policies, and tips on navigating telehealth options. The provider page includes recommendations on integrating telehealth into practice, updates on COVID-19-related policy changes, and assistance on shifting processes to accommodate telehealth appointments. 

Stay connected by visiting NAMSS COVID-19 Response Page.

HHS Workforce Toolkit and Preparedness Gateway for Stakeholders

This week, the Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) launched a COVID-19 Workforce Virtual Toolkit to help state and local healthcare decision makers expand workforce flexibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Toolkit provides guidance for states on funding flexibilities, liability protections, workforce training, best practices, and peer-to-peer communication. It also helps states administer these flexibilities to increase frontline medical staff and care for patients at local hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities. This effort is part of the ASPR Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (TRACIE), a healthcare emergency preparedness information gateway that provides information and resources for stakeholders through participation in a public-private information sharing exchange that requires registration and approval. 

Stay connected by visiting NAMSS COVID-19 Response Page.

HRSA Temporarily Waives NPDB Query Fees

Effective immediately, HRSA will waive National Provider Data Bank (NPDB) query fees through May 31, 2020 to help facilities respond to, and prepare for, the COVID-19 emergency.  HRSA will host two teleconferences to provide more information about the fee waiver on Thursday, April 16 and Thursday, April 23, 2020—both at 1pm EDT. 

This fee waiver is retroactive from March 1, 2020. HRSA will issue query credits to entities that have paid querying fees between March 1, 2020 and April 15, 2020. The Federal Register will post this official notice on Friday, April 17, 2020.

For more information about NPDB fee waivers, visit HRSA’s NPDB page. 

Stay up to date on NAMSS’ COVID-19 Response.

ECFMG/FAIMER Provide a Critical Role in Verifying IMGs

As states continue to waive certain licensure requirements and licensure renewal requirements to respond to the COVID-19 emergency, efforts to provide streamlined and appropriate verification are critical. To help verify international medical school certifications and has passed components of the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination, the Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) is working to provide verification information on international physicians to states as quickly as possible.

ECFMG and its non-profit arm, the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER), stands by as a resource for providing state medical licensing personnel information on IMG. Upon request, ECFMG will verify an IMG’s certification, provide basic identity verification and primary-source verification for a physician’s medical education credentials. The ECFMG/FAIMER can also verify provide previously verified credentials, as well as verify new credentials such as medical diplomas, transcripts, medical licenses, and registration certificates.

Contact ECFMG/FAIMER (casemanager@ecfmg.org) for verification assistance, USMLE exams, IMG credentials, and other inquires related to IMGs. ECFMG does not issue physician licenses and does not have information on physician eligibility for credentialing and/or privileging.

Learn more about ECFMG/FAIMER’s COVID-19 Resources.

Stay up to date on state licensure waivers from FSMB.

Stay connected by visiting NAMSS COVID-19 Response Page.

The Joint Commission Provides a Follow-Up FAQ to its Homemade Face Masks Statement

On April 6, The Joint Commission posted an FAQ in response to their statement on homemade PPE. The FAQ provides background and additional protocol for the Joint Commission’s position on healthcare workers using homemade PPE and on hospitals prioritizing N95 masks and N95 respirators for high-risk staff exposed to aerosolized viral particles.

The FAQ also provides additional prioritization guidance to help hospitals conserve N95 masks and other PPE for high-risk personnel.  

Visit the NAMSS COVID-19 Page for more MSP resources.

Healthcare Groups Call Upon Federal Government to Address PPE and Medical Equipment Shortages

In late March, the Joint Commission, American College of Physicians, American Hospital Association, American College of Surgeons, American Medical Association, and the American Dental Association called upon the federal government to drastically increase PPE and other medical equipment production and distribution. In a public statement these groups state their concern with PPE, ventilators, swab kits, shortages, as well as overall testing capacity for COVID-19. These organizations represent frontline caregivers, institutions, and personnel who are at greater risks for COVID-19 exposure   and need more critical PPE immediately. The lack of PPE poses an additional risk to patients and caregivers compounded by the lack ventilators and other life-saving medical equipment, places healthcare facilities at a dangerous disadvantage against COVID-19. Efforts to increase PPE and medical-equipment production and distribution, as well as expands telehealth services are critical to preserving PPE and stopping the COVID-19 spread.  

Joint Commission Issues Statement on Homemade Personal Protective Equipment

On March 31, the Joint Commission released a statement supporting policies that permit healthcare workers to bring their own facemasks or respirators to work if their healthcare facilities cannot provide enough PPE to protect them from COVID-19 risks. The Joint Commission statement recognizes that:

1. Hospitals must conserve PPEs during shortages for workers who perform high-risk procedures.
2. Privately owned PPE’s full ability to protect hospital workers from COVID-19 is unknown, but may provide some degree of protection.
3. The Joint Commission does not have standards or regulations prohibiting hospital staff from using homemade PPE. 
4. Hospital workers should only use homemade masks when standard PPE is unavailable.

Read more about the evidence the Joint Commission used to develop this position.