Why You Must Avoid Infection Control Survey Issues
Published December 11, 2020
CMS will not be moving their laser focus away from your ability to comply with infection control regulatory guidance any time soon.
In a QSO Letter issued June 1, 2020, CMS informed providers they would be receiving enhanced enforcement actions for infection control deficiencies. These actions include heavy civil monetary penalties, issuance of directed plans of correction, discretionary denial of payment and reduced timeframes to regain compliance. This letter also gave instruction to the States to begin conducting ongoing focused infection control surveys in 20% of nursing homes based on State discretion or using additional data that identifies the facility as high risk beginning FY 2021 (Oct. 1, 2020).
These surveys are here to stay! CMS is making sure the public is aware of the outcomes and announced just last week that citations received during focused infection control surveys will now be used to calculate the Five Star Rating survey component starting with the January 27, 2021 update.
There cannot be enough said when it comes to ensuring the accuracy of your infection prevention and control policies, having processes to ensure policy compliance and establishing staff competency. We recognize these are extremely challenging times and understand the administrative burden this may bring. Coretactics has numerous resources so please reach out to us so we can help you identify your opportunities for improvement and get you on a fast track to survey compliance today.