COMPLIANCE CORNER
By DEVON BERNARD
O&P and the Vaccine Requirements Who must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to remain in compliance with CMS and OSHA rules?
Editor’s Note: Readers of Compliance Corner are now eligible to earn two CE credits. After reading this column, simply scan the QR code or use the link on page 39 to take the Compliance Corner quiz. Receive a score of at least 80 percent, and AOPA will transmit the information to the certifying boards.
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BUSINESS CE
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 | O&P ALMANAC
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ACCINATION RULES FOR
COVID-19 were clarified in the November 5 Federal Register, which featured CMS’s Interim Final Rule and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS). These two separate but complementary regulations established COVID-19 vaccination requirements for a large swath of healthcare workers and other privately employed individuals. With these two new rules, four types of workers fall under some type of vaccine mandate, directly or indirectly, and are required to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4, 2022: federal workers, federal contractors, healthcare workers, and anyone employed by a company with 100 or more employees. The two rules share many similarities: They both require a plan to have all covered and eligible employees to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4, 2022, and they require a plan to track the vaccination progress and allow for religious and medical exemptions. However, there are some differences—the biggest difference being that the CMS rule does not allow for a weekly testing option in lieu of getting vaccinated, whereas the OSHA ETS does offer this option.
Here, we examine the two rules to more clearly explain the similarities and differences, and provide tips and ideas to help you prepare for and comply with the provisions that may apply to you and your facility.
CMS Interim Final Rule
The CMS rule only applies to certain Medicare and Medicaid providers and suppliers that are regulated under specific health and safety standards known as Conditions of Participation (CoPs). The following facilities are subject to CoPs, so their eligible employees are subject to the CMS rule: • Ambulatory surgical centers • Hospices • Psychiatric residential treatment facilities • Programs of all-inclusive care for the elderly • Hospitals (acute care hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, hospital swing beds, long-term care hospitals, children’s hospitals, transplant centers, cancer hospitals, and rehabilitation hospitals/inpatient rehabilitation facilities) • Long-term-care facilities, including skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities, generally referred to as nursing homes
