CMS Toolkit on State Actions to Mitigate COVID-19 Prevalence

The Bizzell Group (Bizzell) supports the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) with the development of the Toolkit on State Actions to Mitigate COVID-19 Prevalence in Nursing Homes. Bizzell facilitated the coordination, organization, design, editing, and 508 compliance remediation of the toolkit. Content for the toolkit was curated by a number of experts, including health care providers, Governors’ COVID-19 tasks forces, associations, community partners, and the 12 Quality Innovative Network-Quality Improvement Organizations (QIN-QIOs).

The toolkit is designed to facilitate efforts to manage the spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in nursing homes. Topics includes strategies, best practices, and resources to assist long-term care facilities with disease control and prevention, gaining access to personal protective equipment (PPE), managing the transfer of patients, implementing protocols around visitation and staffing, and more. In addition to nursing homes, the toolkit was distributed to Governors, health departments, and other agencies and facilities that serve elderly populations at the local and state levels.
Submissions for the toolkit are collected from state and local government agencies, providers and stakeholder groups from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. A total of 19 versions have been developed and disseminated through the CMS.gov website. The project started off as a biweekly deliverable to CMS and has recently shifted to a monthly cadence.