Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program for COVID-19 Vaccination-Wisconsin Update
DHS has officially activated Part B of the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-term Care Program. The Pharmacy Partnership for Long Term Care Program is split into two parts. Part A includes the vaccination of skilled nursing facilities, which began December 28th, and part B includes the vaccination of the remaining facilities enrolled in the program, including assisted living facilities. Vaccinations for assisted living facilities will start on January 25th but pharmacies and local health departments with extra vaccine and capacity are encouraged to start on-site vaccinations earlier.
Independent Living on Campus with Skilled Nursing Facility or Assisted Living Facility
DHS has also authorized the partner pharmacies vaccinating for the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program to begin including attached independent living facility residents and staff who are on the same campus as the skilled nursing facility or assisted living facility when vaccination clinics are being scheduled.
Due to the size of some independent living settings that are attached to skilled and assisted living facilities, the pharmacies may not be able to adjust the schedule for those scheduled over the next two weeks to include the independent facilities, but will work to schedule them for future clinics.
What about Independent Living Facilities for seniors that are not attached to a Skilled Nursing Facility or Assisted Living Facility?
DHS is allowing partner pharmacies to also vaccinate residents in independent living facilities that are on the same campus with skilled nursing and/or assisted living facilities because residents and staff in these settings are interacting with each other. In addition, since the pharmacy partners will already be on the campus for vaccine clinics, inclusion of this group does not create an additional burden for the pharmacies. Residents in independent living facilities that are not part of a campus with a skilled nursing or assisted living facility that is enrolled in the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-term Care Program will receive vaccine in other phases of the vaccine rollout as set by the State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee (SDMAC).
For more information about the SDMAC’s work to provide the state with COVID-19 vaccine prioritization guidelines, please visit the State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee website.
What can I do to help ensure that my facility’s clinic runs smoothly?
Scheduling
Each pharmacy will reach out to provide information and schedule your facility clinic. Please respond promptly to the pharmacies so clinics can be scheduled efficiently. If you have not been contacted by one of the pharmacies, please check your spam email. If the person who enrolled the facility has left and you need to change contact information, Wisconsin DHS is not able to make that change. Please update that information with the pharmacies at the following website:
https://www.omnicare.com/covid-19-vaccine-resource for CVS
https://www.walgreens.com/topic/findcare/long-term-care-facility-covid-vaccine.jsp for Walgreens
Registration
Each pharmacy has a registration process to update resident and staff information prior to the clinic. This process is extremely important. Updating this information allows for the pharmacy to bring enough staff and vaccine in order to ensure your staff and residents are adequately vaccinated in a timely manner. Failure to be as accurate as possible with the registration process can lead to individuals not being vaccinated or vaccine being wasted.
Consent Forms/Vaccination Administration Records
The pharmacies will have consent forms that are required for the pharmacies. These forms have multiple sections on them and include a request for insurance information. To make the clinics run smoothly, all persons being vaccinated should complete all sections of the form ahead of time except for the screening section or questions that will be asked about how you are feeling the day of the vaccination. The insurance information is obtained so the pharmacies can bill insurance for the administration fee. If a person does not have insurance they can still receive the vaccine at no charge.
The pharmacies have specifically asked that facilities:
- Ensure all Vaccine Administration Record (VAR) forms are filled out completely prior to the clinic for residents and staff
- Documented consent on the VAR form either from patient or from Power of Attorney. Staff can document that consent was obtained.
- Staff bring their insurance card with them so we can gather correct information
- Resident insurance information provided or recorded on the VAR (if Medicare, include their MBI # along with last 4 digits of ss#
Getting residents ready for immunization.
If a resident has on multiple layers of clothing it is helpful for the staff to help the resident get their arm exposed and ready for the vaccine before the immunizer reaches that resident.
After immunization the resident is required to be observed for 15 minutes. The pharmacies rely on facility staff to assist with that process.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-term Care Program
The DHS website now includes a page for the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program Frequently Asked Questions. This includes answers to questions about general program information, enrollment, staff vaccination, onsite clinics, costs/billing, regulations/reporting, what information is available from the pharmacy partners and more. DHS will continue to update this page as needed and incorporate answers to additional frequently asked questions as they emerge.
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