Weekly Update
ASPR TRACIE Guides Review of Natural Disasters – per ASPR TRACIE email, June 29th
Many of you are planning for or have already experienced heat waves and severe weather. We invite you to take some time to review our Natural Disasters Topic Collection which includes links to air quality resources, lessons learned, and plans, tools, and templates on extreme heat, fire/wildfire, and floods/landslides.
Understanding OSHA Complaints in Long-Term Care: Process, Expectations, and Practical Response – per Provider Magazine, June 30th
Understanding how complaints are submitted, evaluated, and addressed is essential for long-term care providers. Today, concerns can be reported online, by phone, email, fax, mail, or in person. Read more
Vaccine Webinar information from NDSU Center for Immunization Research and Education (NDSU CIRE) – per NDSU CIRE email, June 30th
Monthly Vaccine Webinars
- New, timely, evidence-based vaccine topics each month for healthcare professionals
- 1-hour webinars featuring expert speakers with practical, real-world insights
- Free CME & CPE credit opportunities
Next Webinar will be presented by Kylie Hall on July 16, 2026. To register, click this link: What’s in Vaccines? The Purpose, Safety, and Science Behind Their Ingredients
Vaccine Education Modules
- Core Vaccine Concepts
- Vaccine Side Effects & Safety
- Understanding Vaccine Recommendations
- Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy
- Evaluating Vaccine Concerns
To earn free CME credit or a certificate of completion, click this link: Vaccine Education Modules
“Unsung Heroes Help Communities Soar” – per Meghan Medvitz email, June 30th
I wanted to share a recent Provider Magazine article, “Unsung Heroes Help Communities Soar,” that recognizes maintenance directors as the unsung heroes of long-term care. It highlights the critical role they play in life safety, emergency preparedness, regulatory compliance, and creating safe environments for residents, staff, and visitors
This committee’s leadership and expertise in developing the AHCA/NCAL Maintenance Director Training Course have helped equip maintenance professionals across the country with the knowledge and confidence to succeed in these vital roles. Thank you for your commitment to advancing the profession and supporting the maintenance directors who truly help our communities soar!
Article Link: Unsung Heroes Help Communities Soar
HHS To Analyze Antipsychotic Use In Nursing Homes – per Provider Daily, July 1st
McKnight’s Long-Term Care News (6/30, Marselas) reports the HHS Office of Inspector General plans to carry out a “nationwide analysis of antipsychotic use in nursing homes, following a small-scale audit that found medical directors were inappropriately diagnosing residents with schizophrenia to ‘mask’ the misuse of such medications.” Announced on Monday, the review “is scheduled for completion in fiscal year 2028.”
Understand the three drivers of trust — empathy, logic, and authenticity. Have you started your course yet? – per ACHA/NCAL email, July 1st
With the Building Trust program, participants will explore practical strategies to:
- Build Trust and make staff feel valued and heard.
- Overcome Resistance.
- Address differences between generations, gender, race, and ethnicity.
- Support a person-by-person culture of trust through shared leadership and psychologically safe practices.
This program offers 4 NAB-Approved CE credits for administrators and 4 contact hours for nurses.
Click here to learn more about “AHCA Education: Building Trust: A Key Strategy to be an Effective Leader in Long Term Care”
Memo Release: Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) Budget Call Letter – per CMS email, July 1st
Resources to Improve Quality of Care:
Check out CMS’s new Quality in Focus interactive video series. The series of 10–15 minute videos are tailored to provider types and aim to reduce the deficiencies most commonly cited during the CMS survey process, like infection control and accident prevention. Reducing these common deficiencies increases the quality of care for people with Medicare and Medicaid.
Learn to:
- Understand surveyor evaluation criteria
- Recognize deficiencies.
- Incorporate solutions into your facility’s standards of care
See the Quality, Safety, & Education Portal Training Catalog, and select Quality in Focus.
Understanding OSHA Complaints in LTC: Process, Expectations, and Practical Response, Part 2 – per Capitol Connection, July 1st
For providers, the quality of a complaint response can significantly affect whether the matter is resolved through correspondence or develops into a more formal investigation or onsite inspection. Read More
Informed Consent for Medications: What Nursing Homes Need to Know – per Capitol Connection, July 1st
Interpretive guidance reminds nursing homes that residents have the right to participate in decisions about their care, including whether to accept or refuse medications. Read More
CMS Launches Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, Expanding Access to GLP-1 Medications – per CMS Newsroom email – July 1st
Through the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, eligible individuals enrolled in Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage can obtain certain GLP-1 medications to lose weight or maintain weight reduction at a predictable and affordable cost of $50 per month. The initiative will remain available through December 31, 2027, and reflects CMS’ continued focus on improving access to innovative treatments that support better long-term health outcomes.
Medicare beneficiaries interested in learning whether they qualify for the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge should visit Medicare.g/glp1bridge and talk with their doctor about whether a GLP-1 medication may be right for them.
Cyber Training Bulletin: July 2026 – August 2026 – per Dawn Lehrman email, July 2nd
Highlights: What’s New?
Add Your Organization’s Cybersecurity Courses to the NICCS Education & Training Catalog: apply today!
New Course Announcement! A new CDM course, Advanced Analytics Using the CDM Agency Dashboard (CDM300), is scheduled to be delivered on July 28-31. Join this 4-day, in-person course to deepen your skills with the CDM Agency Dashboard. Registration is limited—please sign up only if you plan to attend.
Open to FCEB agencies.
President’s Cup Game of the Month
The President’s Cup Game of the Month July challenge, “The Triple Lindy,” is now live. Participants can sign up and compete to:
- Gain hands on experience in exploitation analysis and cyber operations and become familiar with President’s Cup challenge environment.
- Build hands-on experience aligned to key NICE work roles.
- Work through a realistic scenario under mission-driven constraints.
Eligible Audience: Open to the public.
This series provides training assistance to cyber incident responders to help them prepare for, identify, assess, mitigate and report cyber events. This series includes 100-level 1-hour webinars for a general audience and 200-level virtual training courses with cyber range lab activities where participants can learn and practice investigation, remediation, and incident response skills. Government employees and contractors at all levels – federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial, as well as educational and critical infrastructure partners, are welcome to register for these training events. For more information, email cyberinsights@cisa.dhs.gov.
To learn more or register visit: Incident Response Training | CISA
Eligible Audience: Open to government employees and supporting contractors at all levels – federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial, as well as educational and critical infrastructure partners.
This training series provides training assistance to cyber practitioners so they can enable secure systems by strengthening their cyber defenses against vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and threats. This series includes 100-level 1-hour webinars for a general audience and 200-level virtual training courses with cyber range lab activities. Government employees and contractors at all levels – federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial, as well as educational and critical infrastructure partners, are welcome to register for these training events. For more information, email cyberinsights@cisa.dhs.gov.
To learn more or register visit: Incident Response Training | CISA
Eligible Audience: Open to government employees and supporting contractors at all levels – federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial, as well as educational and critical infrastructure partners.
Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Training
This no-cost ICS cybersecurity training is designed for critical infrastructure owners and operators. Its primary goal is to help reduce cybersecurity risks across critical infrastructure sectors while strengthening collaboration between CISA and the private sector.
Participants register through the Virtual Learning Portal (VLP), where online courses become available immediately upon enrollment. Online course durations range from 2 to 20 hours. In-person training is delivered by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and typically runs Monday through Thursday of the scheduled program week.
Visit to view the training calendar, course offerings, and detailed descriptions, including objectives and formats:
To learn more or sign up, visit: ICS Training Calendar
Eligible Audience: Primary audience is critical infrastructure partners, however, federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government employees with critical infrastructure responsibilities are also eligible.
Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Training
These trainings provide instructor-led, hands-on CDM Dashboard training for Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) employees and contractors in a cyber virtual learning environment (CVLE). The virtual and in-person training events enhance the dynamic CDM approach to fortifying the cybersecurity of government networks and systems. These courses are designed for personnel at agencies participating in the CDM program who monitor, manage, or oversee controls on their information systems such as ISSOs, CDM POCs, ISSMs and those reporting metrics.
These CDM trainings enable participating FCEB agencies to improve their networks and defend against cyber adversaries. The CDM training provides detailed class discussion with real world simulated computer labs using a CVLE. The training will teach participants the basics of CDM and how to use the CDM Dashboard capabilities to help mitigate agency threats. We will also offer various CDM resources and external references.
Currently, the courses use version ES 6.6 of the CDM Dashboard within the CVLE. The current content focuses on the most recent version of the dashboard, including FISMA Automation, HVA reporting, CyHy (Cyber Hygiene) and SCuBA (Secure Cloud Business Applications), and other dashboard capabilities. Current CDM courses are offered at the 100-level (Introductory) and 200-level (Intermediate).
To learn more or register visit: Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation Training | CISA
Eligible Audience: Open to federal employees and supporting contractors.
The National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies (NICCS)
Add Your Cybersecurity Courses to NICCS!
Does your organization offer cybersecurity-related courses? Join hundreds of providers from across the country in adding your courses to the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers & Studies (NICCS) Education & Training Catalog.
With thousands of in-person and virtual course options for beginner, intermediate, and advanced users, NICCS can help expand your reach and broaden your user base, promote your courses at no extra cost, and help build and strengthen our nation’s cybersecurity workforce. Apply today!
Strengthening the Care Workforce + Key CMS & Survey Updates – per Provider Magazine, July 2nd
AHCA’s Emergency Preparedness and Life Safety Committee has developed a new resource designed to help facilities review the documents, records, and information that surveyors commonly request. Read more