CMS releases nursing home enforcement information report

In a June 3, 2016 S&C letter, “Public Release of Nursing Home Enforcement Information Announcement,” CMS released a report full of data on nursing home enforcements covering the years 2006-2014. This information will be posted on the CMS website going forward to provide transparency, but also to analyze the consistent application of enforcement remedies across the country. In our post on the new Nursing Home Action Plan’s Strategy 3 regarding enforcement and remedies, we noted that the Agency has placed significant emphasis on consistency across the country, including for enforcement actions. The publication of this report was one of the tasks it outlined in Strategy 3, so they are moving ahead quickly to accomplish what is in the Plan.

There is a wide disparity in the way that nursing homes are not only surveyed from state to state, but also in the way that they are penalized. In this report, CMS ties some trends in increases/decreases in deficiencies to the recession, but finds that increases are often tied to the amount of oversight that CMS, the GAO and other groups have placed on nursing homes. Specifically, the report mentions the Special Focus Facility Program, better enforcement of State performance standards, new quality initiatives, and the publication of the Nursing Home Action Plan. Do those sound familiar? Those are all incorporated into the strategies of the FY 2016-  FY 2017 Nursing Home Action Plan which focuses heavily on nursing home quality improvement.

Read CMS S&C letter, “Public Release of Nursing Home Enforcement Information Announcement” (Ref: S&C: 16-27-NH).

We’ll be looking more at nursing home enforcement and this report in the next CMSCG Bulletin – if you haven’t signed up for our mailing list, you can do so at the bottom of this page!

 


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