Recorded Series: Federal Vaccine Mandates and Responding to Exemption and Accommodation Requests

This webinar series is closed to new enrollments. For more health center compliance trainings, click here.


Part 1: The CMS Vaccine Mandate – Compliance Requirements and Challenges for Health Centers

On November 4, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) requiring that health care workers at Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities be vaccinated. It is estimated that more than 10,000 Federally Qualified Health Center sites will be covered by the CMS IFR. The IFR does not include a vaccine-or-test option; however, employees may request a religious or medical exemption and, if granted, employers must provide a reasonable accommodation. 

By December 6, 2021, covered facilities must develop and implement the required policies and procedures which must include the mandatory vaccination policy, tracking and securely documenting vaccination status and booster doses for all staff, and requesting a medical or religious exemption. The IFR also requires that all staff must receive a single dose COVID-19 vaccine or the initial does of a primary series by December 6, 2021.  

By January 4, 2022, all applicable staff must be fully vaccinated for COVID–19, except for those staff who have been granted exemptions from COVID–19 vaccination or those staff for whom COVID–19 vaccination must be temporarily delayed, as recommended by the CDC, due to clinical precautions and considerations.

As legal challenges threaten and the compliance deadlines loom, join FTLF for Part 1 of this webinar series which will include in-depth look at the CMS IFR that will provide information on whether the IFR applies to various types of employees, vendors, and volunteers (including Board members); suggestions on how to incorporate the IFR requirements into your health center’s policies and procedures (and whether to seek Board approval); and an expanded FAQ section based on questions received from health centers across the country.

Part 2:  Responding to Medical and Religious Exemption and Accommodation Requests

Under federal law, some health center staff members may be exempt from a health center’s vaccine mandate pursuant to the reasonable accommodation provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). There are two types of exemptions:

  • Religious exemptions for sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, and observances; and
  • Medical exemptions for certain disabilities.

Health centers must engage in an interactive process with employees to analyze exemption requests and, when an exemption is granted, to determine whether there is a reasonable accommodation that the health center can provide. Notably, the CMR IFR includes additional documentation requirements for medical exemption requests from staff members.

Navigating the process for analyzing exemptions and providing accommodations can be difficult and costly for health centers.  

As health centers receive and respond to exemption requests related to the vaccine mandates required under the CMS IFR, join FTLF for Part 2 of this webinar series in which we will explore best practices for handling exemption requests - from documenting the interactive process to the confidentiality requirements around the information received from employees.


Please note: This webinar series is offered at a discounted price of $300 for all Health Center Compliance 2021 Premium Plan Subscribers. For more information on our Premium Plan, click here or Contact Us.


 

Target Audience

  • CEOs, COOs, CMOs
  • Clinical Staff
  • Human Resources Managers and Staff
  • Risk Managers
  • Compliance Officers

Learning Objectives

Part 1

After this webinar, you will be able to:

  • Identify how the CMS IFR applies to health centers
  • Review your health center’s current vaccine policy and procedures for compliance with the CMS IFR
  • Understand how compliance with the CMS IFR will be evaluated

Part 2

After this webinar, you will be able to:

  • Understand how medical and religious exemptions work under federal law
  • Develop documentation procedures that reflect the interactive process of evaluating medical and religious exemptions
  • Identify strategies to limit employment-related risk for your health center providers when mandating COVID-19 vaccines
Course summary
Course opens: 
12/07/2021
Course expires: 
01/01/2023
Cost:
$400.00

MOLLY EVANS  

A Partner in the firm’s health law practice group, Molly advises health centers on the management of clinical, employment and workforce-related risks, with a particular focus on professional liability, Federal Tort Claims Act, and HIPAA matters. From her experience as both a private attorney and in-house counsel, Molly knows the importance of managing liability and risk issues in mission-driven organizations. [Full Bio]

DIANNE PLEDGIE

As Partner and Compliance Counsel with the firm’s health law practice group, Dianne advises health centers on implementing effective compliance programs and on addressing top compliance risk areas. Dianne counsels health centers and other organizations on developing compliance programs that include the OIG’s seven elements, respond to identified compliance risk areas, and reflect the organization’s culture.  Dianne also advises health centers and other organizations on patient privacy and confidentiality, including the HIPAA Privacy Rule and 42 CFR Part 2.  She has experience responding to privacy and security incidents, including determining whether there has been a breach, notifying patients and the government, and creating corrective action plans. [Full Bio]

Certificates of Attendance: We verify attendance upon completion of a webinar (live or recorded version) and will only issue certificates in the name of the account holder enrolled in the course. If you need to document attendance for someone other than the account holder, we provide blank Certificates of Attendance for a supervisor to sign and certify that a different individual viewed the course. 

Group Attendance: Due to the online nature of webinars, we cannot verify participation by more than one person. For groups, we provide an attendance record form and blank Certificates of Attendance to record attendance at a group viewing session and document each individual's participation. We recommend that a supervisor or colleague sign the certificate to certify attendance. 

Read more about maintaining an attendance record in our FAQs.

 
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$400.00
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This webinar series is closed to new enrollments. For more health center compliance trainings, click here.


ACCESS PERIOD

Each recorded webinar in this series is available for 180 days after the date of purchase. Once posted to your account, you can view the webinars anytime on-demand during the access period identified in your purchase confirmation. For additional information on viewing and accessing webinars, view our full terms and conditions here.

PAYMENT POLICY

If you pay by credit card or PayPal, you will be able to access the recorded webinar immediately (unless the live webinar has not yet occurred). If you pay by check, we will grant access to the recording when we receive your check. You will receive a confirmation email once access is granted. FTLF reserves the right to suspend access to the webinar if payment is not received within 30 days. For more information on payments and registration, please visit our FAQ page.

CANCELLATION POLICY

No refunds will be provided for recorded webinars. FTLF can transfer a registration to someone else within your organization or, provided you have not already viewed the webinar, transfer the registration to another on-demand program. Where the registration fee for the new webinar is higher, you must also pay the difference between the original course and the new course registration fee at the time of transfer. Administrative fees may also apply. If your organization purchased a webinar under the account of a staff member who no longer works for your organization, please Contact Us. View our full policy on refunds and cancellations here.

Required Hardware/Software

Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are the preferred browsers.