Attn: Nursing Home Providers
CMS Testing Requirements
On August 26, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued memo QSO-20-38-NH which mandates federal testing requirements for nursing homes related to Interim Final Rule (IFC) CMS-3401-IFC. The Department of Health Services (DHS) is aware that for many nursing homes in the state the testing requirements required by CMS exceed the bi-weekly (every other week) state-funded lab testing that is currently being supported by DHS. As a result, the COVID-19 Response Team (CRT) has worked in coordination with other departments to secure additional lab testing capability to support nursing home testing requirements.
Lab Transitions
The DHS CRT is in the process of onboarding new labs and transitioning all nursing homes to a relationship with a lab for testing if they have not already been partnered. As additional labs are on-boarded, we anticipate the state will have enough capacity to support routine and outbreak lab testing for all nursing homes to meet CMS testing requirements by mid-October. While the transition to additional labs is in progress, the state will continue to support bi-weekly staff testing and outbreak testing for nursing homes. The state will contact each facility when a lab is able to meet CMS testing requirements that are in excess of bi-weekly staff testing.
Supply Orders
Please do not order routine staff testing supplies in excess of the state approved bi-weekly (every other week) testing until instructed to do so by the state. Routine bi-weekly and outbreak testing supplies should continue to be ordered through the state testing portal regardless of the lab to which the nursing home is assigned: https://covid19supplies.wi.gov/Testing.
Please note that the CRT Testing Outreach Team is handling an extremely high volume of testing requests and transitions to new labs at this time. In order for testing requests to be reviewed, approved, shipped and delivered in a timely manner, we request that facilities submit their testing requests at least three (3) business days prior to scheduled testing whenever possible. This is especially true if testing on a peak testing day such as Monday or Tuesday as there can be shipping delays encountered with commercial shippers and couriers over the weekend. Also, it may be helpful to schedule testing on Wednesdays through Sundays to avoid peak testing days on Monday and Tuesday.
Finally, there is a high volume of emails being submitted to the CRT Testing Outreach Team email (WICOVIDTEST@wisconsin.gov). Please note that emails are answered as soon as possible. You can expect a response in 24 hours and your response may be sent after hours. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this time of high testing volume due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
Questions
If you have any questions regarding the above information, please contact: WICOVID19SNFTesting@dhs.wisconsin.gov
