N.Y. PBH Law § 2803-AA*2 — New York Code / Act PBH / Article 28 / Section 2803-AA*2
Nursing home infection control competency audit
Status: in_force

* § 2803-aa. Nursing home infection control competency audit.  1. The\ncommissioner shall establish in the department a program for audits of\nnursing homes to measure specific core competencies relating to\ninfection control of each nursing home. The audits shall commence on\nDecember 1, 2022, and shall be conducted annually thereafter.\n  2. (a) The audit shall utilize a checklist that is consistent with\nfocused infection control survey standards issued by the federal centers\nfor Medicare and Medicaid services to evaluate infection control\ncompetency of each nursing home.\n  (b) A nursing home must meet all metrics on the checklist developed\npursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision to be scored as in\ncompliance with infection control.\n  (c) If a nursing home fails to meet all metrics on the checklist\ndeveloped pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the department\nshall conduct another infection control audit within ninety days of the\ninitial determination. The department shall continue to conduct such\nninety day audits until the nursing home is scored as in compliance with\ninfection control competency. The department may also pursue\nadministrative penalties, including but not limited to citation for\nviolation of infection control standards and imposing civil monetary\npenalties pursuant to section twelve of this chapter.\n  3. An audit of core competencies shall include, but not be limited to,\nthe following, and shall be consistent with focused infection control\nsurvey standards issued by the federal centers for Medicare and Medicaid\nservices:\n  (a) Infection control. (i) The nursing home shall assign an infection\nlead staff person to implement infection control based on federal and\nstate public health advisories, guidelines and rules.\n  (ii) The nursing home shall have a written infection control program\nwhich includes, but is not limited to:\n  (A) A plan to investigate, control and take action to prevent\ninfections in the nursing home;\n  (B) Procedures for isolation and universal precautions for residents\nsuspected or confirmed to have a contagious or infectious disease; and\n  (C) A record of incidences and corrective actions related to\ninfections at the nursing home.\n  (iii) During an officially declared national emergency, or state or\nmunicipal emergency declared pursuant to article two-B of the executive\nlaw, related to a contagious or infectious disease outbreak, the nursing\nhome shall have screening requirements for every individual entering the\nfacility, including staff, for symptoms associated with the infectious\ndisease outbreak.\n  (iv) The nursing home shall have a staffing and cohorting plan to\nlimit transmission, which is based on national (for example, centers of\ndisease control and centers for Medicare and Medicaid services), state\nor local public health authority recommendations. Such staffing and\ncohorting plan may include, but not be limited to:\n  (A) Having dedicated, consistent staffing teams who directly interact\nwith residents that are confirmed or suspected to be infected with a\ncontagious or infectious disease;\n  (B) Limiting clinical and other staff who have direct resident contact\nto specific areas of the facility and not rotating staff between various\nareas of the facility during the period they are working each day during\nperiods of recognized outbreaks; and\n  (C) Having a dedicated space in the facility for cohorting and\nmanaging care for residents with an infectious disease, such as\nCOVID-19.\n  (v) The nursing home shall ensure ongoing access to the necessary\nsupplies for hand hygiene for staff and residents, hospital\ndisinfectants or alternatives to allow for necessary and appropriate\ncleaning and disinfecting of surfaces and shared resident care\nequipment.\n  (vi) The nursing home shall train staff and establish protocols for\nselecting, donning and doffing appropriate personal protective equipment\nand demonstrate competency during resident care. The nursing home must\nkeep a record of staff training in proper storage, use, reuse, and\ndisposal of personal protective equipment.\n  (vii) The nursing home must designate a staff member or members who is\nresponsible for ensuring the proper use of personal protective equipment\nby all staff.\n  (b) The nursing home shall demonstrate that there has been advanced\nplanning, in alignment with the facility's emergency preparedness plans\nand pandemic emergency plan, for contingent staffing needs in the case\nof staff quarantines that shall have an employee responsible for\nconducting a daily assessment of staffing status and needs during an\noutbreak of infectious or contagious diseases, and institute a\nsick-leave policy that does not punish staff with disciplinary action if\nthey are absent from work because they are exhibiting symptoms, or test\npositive, for an infectious disease. Such policies shall offer the\nmaximum amount of flexibility to staff and be consistent with state\nguidance.\n  (c) The nursing home shall have a written plan for daily\ncommunications with staff, residents, and the residents' families\nregarding the status of infections at the nursing home. Such plan shall\nbe consistent with the requirements set forth in paragraph (a) of\nsubdivision twelve of section twenty-eight hundred three of this\narticle. The nursing home must designate one or more staff members who\nare responsible for these communications with staff, residents and\nresidents' families.\n  * NB There are 2 § 2803-aa's\n