Holiday Decorations Can Cost a Lot If They Come With a Citation
A hospital in Kansas was cited by CMS in 2020 was cited under K-0753, the CMS K-tag for such festive adornments, for failing “to provide corridors safe from excessive combustible decorations” after a lab supply closet was spotted “completely covered with combustible decorations.”
Joint Commission Eliminates Use of ‘Licensed Independent Practitioner’
The Joint Commission (TJC) will no longer use the term “licensed independent practitioner” in its hospital and critical access hospital standards. Starting February 19, 2023, the term “licensed practitioner” will be used.
CMS Hones In On Underperforming Nursing Homes With Tougher Oversight
Eighty-eight nursing homes participate in the SFF Program, which is 0.5% of all nursing homes in the country. The Program was created to help nursing homes improve compliance and quality, however, some facilities have not been able to achieve the necessary standards to graduate from the Program, or they fail to sustain compliance.
CMS Posts Reminder to Maintain COVID-19, Flu Protections
In a Quality, Safety & Oversight Group memo to survey offices nationwide, CMS said “all providers and suppliers should continue to implement appropriate infection control protocols for COVID-19,” as well as the flu, and included links to CDC guidance on both.
CMS Urges Hospitals to Take Violence Prevention Steps
To provide care in a safe setting for both patients and healthcare workers, hospitals need to identify patients at risk for intentional harm to themselves or others, CMS recommended in its November 28 memo, as well as identify environmental safety risks for such patients and provide education and training for staff and volunteers. CMS said it expects hospitals to demonstrate how they identify patients at risk of self-harm or harm to others and what steps they are taking to minimize those risks.
It’s Official: CMS Creates New Rural Emergency Hospital Provider Type
In its annual final rule on hospital outpatient prospective payment and ambulatory surgical center payment systems, scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on November 23, CMS also finalized a set of REH Conditions of Participation (CoP), which it says track closely with CoPs for critical access hospitals.
To Reduce Risk in Value-Based Care, Focus on Care Quality
The key tenet of value-based care is that provider reimbursement is directly connected to care quality. Value-based arrangements stand in sharp contrast to how providers are compensated under fee-for-service models, which reward more revenues for more tests and procedures.
CMS Revises COVID-19 Vaccination Memos to Combine Survey Instructions as Infection Rates Decline
One of the revisions, highlighted in red, notes that “egregious noncompliance” such as more than half the staff unvaccinated, will be cited as a condition level deficiency. Instances of noncompliance where “good faith” efforts to comply are ongoing would only be a standard-level deficiency.
Executive Briefing: Medication Orders, Crash Carts, and Food Storage Lead Top Clinical Problems
Check patient units to ensure breast milk and other patient foods are stored correctly, encourage staff to reach out to providers if medication orders are not clear, and check crash carts for expired or missing items. Those are among some of the highest scored problems not associated with infection control or suicide prevention, according to findings by surveyors with The Joint Commission in the 12 months ending August 31.
PHE Renewed Again but Start Planning Now for Flexibility to End
The next renewal date would be on or before Wednesday, January 11, 2023. Just before the PHE was renewed in October, CMS published a blog “Creating a Roadmap for the End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency,” with attached links to memos about the waivers for each provider type.