CMS releases Focused Dementia Care Survey Tools

In a new S&C memo, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Centers (CMS) released the tools that were used for the Focused Dementia Care Survey Pilot in 2014 and the 2015 initiative to test the survey type in a few more states. This survey type examined the process by which nursing homes prescribed antipsychotic medications and assessed compliance with regulations related to dementia care. In releasing these tools, CMS hopes that facilities will use them to assess their own practices providing dementia care to residents.

The survey tool is 4 parts, with the first 3 parts being completed once per facility. These sections are:

  • Part 1 – Nursing Home Characteristics
  • Part 2 – Dementia Care – Policies, Leadership, Training, Documentation
  • Part 3 – Quality Assessment and Assurance (QAA)

Part 4 is completed for each resident that is sampled. The expectation is that 5 residents will be sampled for medium-sized facilities of 120-150 beds, and that for 150+bed facilities or facilities that have dementia-care related citations at F-309, the sample may be expanded to 10 residents. The sections in Part 4 are:

  • Dementia Care & Related Practices
  • Comprehensive Evaluation of Each Resident on Admission by the Interdisciplinary Team
  • Recognition, Assessment and Cause Identification of Behavioral Manifestations of Dementia
  • Care Planning
  • Individualized Approaches and Treatment: Care Plan Implementation and Staffing
  • Monitoring, Follow-up and Oversight

The end of the tools remind surveyors that if the nursing home has not provided the necessary care and services for each resident with dementia to support his/her highest practicable level of physical, mental and psychosocial well-being in accordance with the comprehensive assessment and plan of care that F-309 should be cited.

View the 2013 Guidance to Surveyors at F-309 related to dementia care on the CMSCG Blog. View CMS S&C letter “Focused Dementia Care Survey Tools” (Ref: S&C: 16—04-NH) on the CMS website.


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