COVID-19 vaccinations are now required for all healthcare workers serving clients in a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) program. Workers must be at least partially vaccinated by December 5 and fully vaccinated by January 4, 2022.
As new regulations are announced, Axxess continues to provide updates to the home care solution so organizations can remain compliant with no extra strain on business operations. There are several ways Axxess is helping you stay compliant and document vaccinations appropriately.
Creating a Vaccination Plan
CMS is also requiring all providers create an internal policy outlining the COVID-19 vaccination mandate. Axxess Home Care includes Employee Immunization Profiles to document vaccinated employees and a COVID-19 Vaccinations Report for easy tracking.
Updates to the Immunization Log
A new COVID-19 booster option has been added to the list of vaccines in the COVID-19 Immunization Log. This option should be used for documentation of those receiving the booster dose.
The booster is an additional dose of vaccine given after the original shot(s). Immunity after the initial dose(s) naturally starts to wane and this is where the booster is needed.
We have also added the COVID-19, Other option. This selection can be used to document a third dose for those individuals who have a moderate-to –severely-compromised immune system and need to receive a third dose, or second dose if the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine was received.
Documenting Pediatric Vaccinations
There have also been updates for recommendations for children ages five to 11 to receive the vaccine. Because Axxess Home Care includes documentation workflows for pediatric, medical and non-medical clients, these pediatric vaccinations can easily be documented with the existing options available in the immunization log.
COVID-19 Is Not the Only Vaccination
Another way to keep clients and employees safe is to remember that there is one more vaccination we should be thinking about at this time of year. There have been many discussions about the COVID-19 vaccines, but remember – influenza is also a dangerous virus that is preventable (or at least have the risk reduced) by vaccination.
Every year in the United States, millions of people get sick, hundreds of thousands are hospitalized and tens of thousands of people die from the flu. Unlike evidence from COVID-19 trends, anyone can get the flu at any health level and at any age. The best way to prevent the flu is to receive a flu vaccine yearly.
Keeping ourselves, our clients and all home care professionals safe is a priority, and Axxess wants to make this process easy for organizations to document and track.
Axxess Home Care, a cloud-based home care software, offers built-in features for optimal in-house and client-facing operations.