CMS Guidance on Nursing Home Surveys, Use of Nursing Home CMP Funds
CMS has announced revisions to its guidance for nursing home surveyors, effective June 12, 2009. The new guidelines emphasize resident rights in areas such as: ensuring residents live with dignity; offering choices in care and services; accommodating the environment to each resident’s needs and preferences; and creating a more homelike environment for residents, including access for visitors. Separately, CMS has issued a memo on the use of nursing facility civil money penalty (CMP) funds by states. Specifically, the memo: clarifies that states may direct collected CMP funds to entities other than nursing homes as long as funds are used in accordance with statutory intent; shares innovative practices for states to consider when deciding how to use CMP funds to improve the quality of care and life for nursing home residents; and announces that CMS will consider reporting CMP amounts that have been returned to each state.
