The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued two new QSO memos on Monday, October 7, 2019. The first memo, “Consumer Alerts added to the Nursing Home Compare website and the Five Star Quality Rating System,” states that CMS will be adding an “abuse indicator” to Nursing Home Compare starting October 23, 2019. The “abuse icon” will be added for facilities that meet any of these criteria:
- Cited for abuse with actual harm on the most recent standard survey (Scope and Severity of G or higher) OR
- Cited for abuse with actual harm on a complaint survey within the past 12 months (S/S: G or higher) OR
- Cited for abuse where there was potential harm (Scope and Severity of D or higher) on the most recent standard survey (Cycle 1) AND on the previous standard survey (Cycle 2) OR
- Cited for abuse where there was potential for harm on a complaint survey within the past 12 months AND on a complaint survey within the prior 12 months (12 months – 24 months prior)
These facilities will have a red hand icon on their Nursing Home Compare entry, which has been interpreted to mean “do not proceed.” A hazard icon is already in place for facilities on the Special Focus Facility list.
In addition to the warning on Nursing Home Compare, CMS will be releasing an updated Consumer Checklist on October 23, 2019. This checklist will include questions for consumers to ask facilities about regarding abuse prevention. For Oregon facilities, there will be a disclaimer on every nursing home in the state alerting consumers that not all abuse investigations in Oregon were investigated by health surveyors and that they may need to check with the Department of Adult Protective Services to see if a facility has had issues with abuse in the past.
View the QSO memo, “Consumer Alerts added to the Nursing Home Compare website and the Five Star Quality Rating System” (Ref: QSO-20-01-NH) here.