COVID-19: VA Should Assess Its Oversight of Infection Prevention and Control in Community Living Centers - Government Accountability Office

What GAO Found

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) took steps—such as issuing guidance and trainings—to support the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Community Living Centers (CLC), which are VA-owned and -operated nursing homes. This guidance focused on, for example, limiting CLC entry and testing residents and staff for COVID-19, while the trainings were intended to prepare staff for, among other things, a surge in cases.

However, the agency conducted limited oversight of infection prevention and control in these facilities during the first year of the pandemic, from March 2020 through February 2021. In particular, the agency suspended annual in-person inspections of CLCs before resuming them virtually in February 2021. The agency also required that CLCs conduct a one-time self-assessment of their infection prevention and control practices but did not review the results in a timely manner to make more immediate improvements.

U:\Work in Process\Teams\FY21 Reports\HC\104464_559\Graphics\HL_5-v3_104464.png

VA officials acknowledged these shortcomings as the agency responded in real time to the rapidly evolving pandemic. As VA has described this time as a "learning period," it could benefit from assessing its decisions and actions related to oversight of infection prevention and control during the pandemic to identify any lessons learned. Such an assessment would align with VA's plans to assess and report on the agency's overall response to the pandemic as well as its strategic goal to promote continuous quality improvement in CLCs. Results from such an assessment—which could look at both successes and missed opportunities—could help VA better prepare for future infectious disease outbreaks in CLCs.

Why GAO Did This Study

Close to 8,000 veterans per day received nursing home care provided by VA in CLCs in fiscal year 2020. COVID-19 has posed significant risks to nursing home residents and staff, as residents are often in frail health, and residents and staff have close daily contact with each other.

The CARES Act includes a provision that GAO monitor the federal response to the pandemic. This report describes, among other objectives, guidance and training VA has issued to help CLCs respond to the pandemic and examines VA's oversight of infection prevention and control in CLCs during the pandemic.

GAO analyzed documents, including guidance, training-related materials, and CLC self-assessments of their infection prevention and control practices. GAO also interviewed VA officials and CLC staff, the latter from five facilities selected based on factors such as having been cited for infection prevention and control deficiencies prior to the pandemic.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Roseola vs. measles rash: What is the difference? - Medical News Today

Image
Roseola and measles are two different diseases that present with a high fever and a rash. They are both most commonly seen in childhood, although measles can affect people of any age, and roseola in adults is very rare. While both diseases share similarities, there are distinguishing factors, such as how the symptoms present and the disease progression. Read on to find out the difference between roseola and measles rashes. Roseola, also known as roseola infantum, sixth disease, or exanthema subitum, is a viral infection that typically affects children. The human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) or human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7) causes roseola. The disease is spread through tiny respiratory droplets that people either breathe in or pick up from surfaces they touch. This disease usually presents in children between the ages of 6–12 months . Children who have this disease experience a high fever, followed by a pink or red rash. Roseola is a self-limiting viral illness, meaning it will typically go awa...
Read more

poliomyelitis treatment

Image
poliomyelitis treatment Drug and Device News March 2019 - P&T Community Posted: 04 Mar 2019 10:35 AM PST NEW DRUG APPROVALS Ontruzant, a Herceptin Biosimilar The FDA has approved trastuzumabdttb (Ontruzant, Samsung Bioepis Company, Ltd.) for HER2-overexpressing breast cancer and HER2-overexpressing metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Trastuzumabdttb, a HER2/neu receptor antagonist, is the third FDA-approved biosimilar of Herceptin (Genentech). Patients should be selected for therapy based on an FDA-approved companion diagnostic. Trastuzumab-dttb carries a boxed warning about the risks of cardiomyopathy, serious and fatal infusion reactions, embryo-fetal toxicity, and pulmonary toxicity. Ontruzant will be marketed and distributed in the U.S. by Merck. Sources: Samsung Bioepis, January 21, 2019; Ontruzant . prescribing information, January 2019; FDA, January 18, 2019 Vaxelis, a Combination Vaccine T...
Read more

Coronavirus fake news echoes century-old polio fears - Newsroom

Image
Coronavirus fake news echoes century-old polio fears - Newsroom Coronavirus fake news echoes century-old polio fears - Newsroom Posted: 05 Feb 2020 08:32 AM PST FEBRUARY 6, 2020 Updated 15 hours ago Dr Heather Battles Dr Heather Battles is a lecturer in anthropology at the University of Auckland and researches infectious diseases and epidemics. Show more Ideasroom During the past month, in the confusion and uncertainty over the precise origin of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, many alternate ideas or 'conspiracy theories' have sprung up and spread widely via social media including Twitter and Facebook. I have had a sense of déjà vu as many of these claims have parallels in how people responded to another 'emerging' epidemic disease a century ago: polio. The first example that struck me is the idea (spread by US fake news website Infowars and others) that the roll-out of 5G technology is to blame, wit...
Read more