Dietary & Nutrition Consulting for Skilled Nursing Facilities
The dietary department is one of the most surveyed areas in a nursing home — and one of the most complex. Surveyors evaluate everything from food safety and kitchen sanitation to clinical nutrition documentation, therapeutic diet compliance, and the quality of the dining experience. CMSCG's dietary consultants are all credentialed Registered Dietitians who have also held Food Service Director roles in skilled nursing and long-term care facilities. That combination of clinical nutrition expertise and operational leadership experience means our consultants don't just know what the regulations require — they know what it takes to run a compliant dietary department, what surveyors look for when they walk into a kitchen, and where the gaps most commonly occur.
What We Provide
CMSCG's dietary consulting services cover the full scope of nursing home food service and clinical nutrition — from kitchen inspections and regulatory compliance to policy development, quality auditing, clinical nutrition review, and menu development.
Kitchen Inspection & Food Service Compliance
A surveyor's first stop in your dietary department is the kitchen — and what they find there sets the tone for everything that follows. CMSCG's dietary consultants conduct comprehensive kitchen inspections against current CMS and FDA Food Code standards, identifying food safety risks, sanitation concerns, and operational practices that could result in citations before a surveyor finds them first.
- Full kitchen inspection against CMS and FDA Food Code standards
- Food safety and storage practices review
- Food temperatures and temperature log review
- Sanitation and housekeeping practices
- Equipment condition and maintenance review
- Staff food handling practices and competency
- Meal preparation and service observation
- Findings and prioritized corrective action guidance
Clinical Nutrition Review
Review of clinical nutrition documentation and practices against CMS standards — evaluating nutritional assessments, care plans, therapeutic diet compliance, and the integration of dietary services into the facility's overall clinical program.
- Nutritional assessment review and guidance
- Care plan compliance and documentation
- Therapeutic and texture-modified diet review
- Weight management program review
- Dysphagia diet compliance
- RD consultation documentation review
Dining Experience & Meal Service
Surveyors observe meal service — watching how food is presented, how residents are assisted, and whether the dining environment is dignified. CMSCG assesses your meal service practices and dining environment and provides specific recommendations for improvement.
- Meal service observation and assessment
- Dining room environment review
- Resident assistance practices
- Dignity and person-centered dining
- Tray accuracy and presentation
- Recommendations for enhancement
Staff Training & Education
Targeted education and training for food service and dietary staff — from food safety fundamentals and proper food handling to therapeutic diet understanding and dining assistance techniques. Available on-site and virtually.
- Food safety and handling training
- Therapeutic diet and texture modification education
- Dining assistance and dysphagia awareness
- Regulatory compliance education
- Competency development and testing
Compliance & Quality Services
Beyond on-site assessment and training, CMSCG provides the compliance infrastructure that helps dietary departments maintain standards consistently — between surveys, between consultant visits, and through leadership transitions.
Policy & Procedure Development
CMSCG assists food service and dietary departments with the development and revision of policies and procedures that meet current CMS standards — building the documentation foundation that supports both compliance and consistent operations.
- Food service policy development and revision
- Clinical nutrition policy review
- Alignment with current CMS standards
- Staff implementation guidance
- Review of existing P&Ps for compliance gaps
Auditing Tools & Quality Monitoring
CMSCG develops customized auditing tools for dietary departments — giving Food Service Directors and quality teams the means to conduct ongoing self-assessment and identify compliance issues between surveys and consultant visits.
- Custom dietary compliance audit tools
- Kitchen and food safety audit tools
- Clinical nutrition documentation audits
- Quality monitoring program support
- QAPI integration for dietary department
Menu Development & Revision
Many Food Service Directors face the same challenge — daily operations leave little time for the focused menu work that needs to happen. CMSCG's Registered Dietitian consultants assist with menu development and revision to ensure menus meet nutritional standards and accommodate therapeutic and modified diet needs.
- Menu development to meet CMS nutritional standards
- Therapeutic diet menu development
- Texture-modified and dysphagia diet menus
- Existing menu review and revision
- Resident preference and cultural considerations
Care Planning Support
CMSCG supports dietary departments with the care planning process — ensuring nutritional assessments are clinically appropriate, care plans reflect the resident's actual needs and preferences, and dietary participation in the IDT process meets regulatory expectations.
- Nutritional assessment review and guidance
- Care plan development and compliance review
- IDT participation and documentation
- Weight management and intervention planning
- MDS dietary item accuracy review
“No matter how much we think we’re prepared, when CMSCG comes into our kitchen, they always find something! Tougher and more comprehensive than the state.”
— Food Service Director, Non-Profit CCRCReach out today and let’s get started
Whether you need a kitchen inspection, clinical nutrition review, policy development, or ongoing dietary compliance support — CMSCG’s dietary consultants are ready to help.
Questions about dietary consulting? Call us: (631) 692-4422