Registration and Viewing Instructions

							                       You are cordially invited to attend the
              Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
                                         And
                      Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
                      Nursing Home Immunizations
                          Satellite Broadcast and Webcast
                         Thursday, September 8, 2005
                             1:00 PM–3:30 PM EDT


 o   This broadcast is open to Nursing Homes with Medicare and Medicaid
     certified units, Nursing Home Provider Associations, State Public Health
     Departments, CDC Health Partners, State Survey Agencies, CMS Regional
     Offices, Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs), State Long Term Care
     Ombudsman, and State Medicaid Agencies
 o   Visit the CMS Survey and Certification Online Course Delivery System
     http://cms.internetstreaming.com for registration, viewing instructions,
     satellite coordinates and handouts
       - Agenda and handouts will be available no later than September 1, 2005.
       - Satellite coordinates will be posted when they become available.



Background
Over the years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have collaborated to improve
immunization coverage in long-term care (LTC) facilities. In January 2000, the
Department of Health and Human Services launched Healthy People 2010, a
comprehensive, nationwide health promotion and disease prevention agenda.
“Immunizations and Infectious Diseases” is one of the focus areas. Healthy
People 2010 set the target rate for influenza and PPV vaccination of adults aged
65 years and older at 90 percent.

On October 2, 2002, CMS published a final rule with comment that removed the
physician order requirement for influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations from
the Conditions of Participation (CoPs) for Medicare and Medicaid participating
hospitals, long-term care (LTC) facilities, and home health agencies (HHAs). The
intent of the final rule was increasing the immunization rates in the LTC
population and was a major step. Another CMS positive effort was to increase
immunization reimbursement rates by increasing the average Medicare payment
for administration of the vaccines from $8.00 to $18.00 beginning January 1,


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2005. Additional influenza/pneumococcal campaign information is available at
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/preventiveservices/2.asp. Finally, CMS is working on a
regulation that proposes that all residents be offered immunization annually from
October 1 through March 31 and hopes to have this rule finalized by October 1,
2005, before the influenza season.

Consistent with the other CMS efforts to improve the immunization rates in LTC
facilities, effective October 1, 2005, CMS plans to collect the resident level
influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations in LTC facilities through Section W of
the Minimum Data Set (MDS) version 2.0.

Broadcast Information
On September 8, 2005 from 1:00-3:30 p.m. (EDT), CMS and CDC are providing a
satellite and Internet broadcast approximately two hours in length. The
broadcast will present the importance of immunizing nursing home residents and
staff to providers, surveyors, public health officials, and QIOs. The Immunization
Satellite Broadcast will provide the following important information:
         Because education, monitoring and preventive measures are crucial to
          controlling outbreaks, nursing home providers will offer detailed
          accounts of how they managed influenza outbreaks and steps they
          took to control and contain the infection;
         CDC will report current nursing home immunization research and the
          importance of vaccinating nursing home residents and health care
          workers;
         Resident Assessment Instrument and MDS changes and instructions
          will be discussed;
         CMS will provide an overview of the proposed conditions of
          participation reflecting the standard for immunization in long term care
          facilities, survey interpretative guideline changes, and the development
          of influenza and PPV quality measures; and
         The QIO support for immunizations and available web information will
          be discussed.

There will also be a live Q&A session to answer your questions.

This broadcast is open to Nursing homes with Medicare or Medicaid certified
units, nursing home provider associations, State Public Health Departments, CDC
health partners, State Survey Agencies, CMS Regional Offices, QIOs, State Long
Term Care Ombudsman, and State Medicaid Agencies.




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Viewing Options
There are three options for Nursing Home Broadcast viewing:
   1. As a satellite broadcast.
      -   Satellite coordinates are listed under Satellite Information Technical
          Fact Sheet that follows or at the CMS Survey and Certification Online
          Course Delivery System website: http://cms.internetstreaming.com.
   2. As a simultaneous webcast on September 8, 2005 from 1:00- 3:30 p.m.
      (EDT)
      -   Register and view at the CMS Survey and Certification Online Course
          Delivery System website: http://cms.internetstreaming.com.
   3. As an archived webcast beginning September 23, 2005 until September 8,
      2006, one year after the original air date.
      -   Register and view at the CMS Survey and Certification Online Course
          Delivery System website: http://cms.internetstreaming.com.

The agenda with satellite coordinates and handouts for this broadcast will be
available no later than September 1, 2005. To obtain the agenda and handouts,
you must register at http://cms.internetstreaming.com.




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