In the recent AFL 20-88.1 COVID-19 Testing Recommendations for Patients and Health Care Personnel (HCP) at General Acute Care Hospitals (GACHs) the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) provides updated recommendations for weekly SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic screening testing for healthcare personnel (HCP) in hospitals, and recommendations for the testing of newly admitted patients.
Although this guidance pertains to GACHs, ASCs can utilize the recommendations when evaluating your current policies regarding monitoring ASC staff and pre-surgical COVID-19 testing.
The AFL highlights GACHs may consider modifying testing protocols for patients whose vaccination status is known prior to or upon admission or procedure. It also states GACHs should continue to test unvaccinated patients and patients whose vaccination status is unknown prior to or upon admission or procedure.
Representatives from CDPH and the Medical Board of California (MBC) will be providing a regulatory update on Friday, September 10, 2021, during the CASA Annual Conference. This session will review their oversight and recent updates. This will be an interactive session allowing the audience to pose questions to the panel on common issues, reporting requirements and accreditation.
The CASA Pre-conference will be another important session delving into another regulatory body, Cal/OSHA. The Pre-conference offering allows for more in-depth education into the important subject of Cal/OSHA and Ambulatory Surgery Providers. 2020 required ASCs to further evaluate the safety of their environment for the ASC patient and their staff. ASCs faced new challenges as they implemented respiratory protection plans, pandemic policies and confronted the effects of wildfires and prevalent smoke. As we move through the pandemic, providing a safe environment for employees and patients is of the utmost importance. ASCs have a responsibility to follow Cal/OSHA guidelines to protect health care workers from injury and illness in the workplace. This highly interactive seminar will review several timely Cal/OSHA topics and their applicability as well as operational methods of compliance that attendees can immediately implement. This 4 hour session will begin at 8:30 a.m. on September 8th, prior to the conference opening. The Pre-Conference requires a separate registration fee and is not included with the general conference.
For more details regarding the CASA Conference, registration and hotel accommodations please go to the following link. CASA Conference Website