The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Monday how prioritization of the survey process will take place to maintain compliance during the upcoming weeks while providers across the country deal with COVID-19. In response to the recent outbreak, working with the CDC and in consideration of the outbreak’s impact on patients and providers across the nation, CMS has developed a three-pronged survey process.

  1. Immediate Jeopardy

As the first prong, CMS will continue to conduct Immediate Jeopardy surveys.  Complaints and Immediate Jeopardy situations will continue to be assessed; a focused Infection Control review will also be conducted.

  1. Targeted Infection Control Inspections

The second prong will include Targeted Infection Control inspections.  A streamlined checklist will be used to ensure that providers are implementing best infection prevention practices.  Immediate feedback will be offered to allow providers to address areas of concern and to maintain a safe environment.  There is a checklist for Nursing Home providers and another one for Acute and Continuing Care providers.

  1. Self-Assessments

As a third prong, healthcare providers will be given an Infection Control Checklist to conduct self-assessments of internal Infection Control Plans. This checklist will allow providers to assess compliance with infection prevention practices while resources are of limited availability.

At this time, standards inspections for the following provider types will not be conducted:

  • Hospitals;
  • Nursing Homes;
  • Home Health Agencies;
  • Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities; and
  • Hospices

Additionally, revisit inspections will not be conducted beyond those based on Immediate Jeopardy. For CLIA surveys as well, the priority will be focused on Immediate Jeopardy.

Advis will continue to monitor the above and provide updates as they become available. Please contact our office with any questions or if we can help you to assess your Infection Prevention Plan and best practices. Please contact us with more information, or call 708-478-7030.

Published: March 26, 2020