Surveys are resuming in areas deemed safe for on-site visits even as the coronavirus pandemic continues its waves of surge and decline. With COVID-19 still on everyone’s mind, expect to be asked for documentation of inspection, testing, and maintenance (ITM) of critical systems and to show...
Be prepared to explain to surveyors how you will catch up with any inspection, testing, and maintenance (ITM) of non-critical systems that had been delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Update logs and records for any ITM done on critical systems, and make sure you can show that...
It’s not easy being an accrediting organization (AO) these days. DNV GL Healthcare has been in the business of deeming U.S. acute care and critical access hospitals for approval to bill Medicare for more than a decade.
But when the AO, whose parent company is in Norway, wanted to branch...
A pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus was predictable. Yet the experience itself was—and still is for many—unanticipated, says Deanna Scatena, BSN, RN, CCRN,...
CMS has signaled that accrediting organizations (AO) like HFAP can resume even more surveys in areas where the COVID-19 patient surge is slowing. But what will HFAP surveyors be looking for?
In late August, the oldest of the accrediting organizations released its ...
Get a firm handle on your COVID-19 case data now that a new interim final rule requires the information to be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a Medicare Condition of Participation (CoP).
In the September issue, we told you about a hospital that responded quickly to threats posed after the nation learned of the 2019 novel coronavirus, but still faced a finding of immediate jeopardy (IJ) to patients and staff from CMS officials.
Always being ready for survey can be one of the greatest challenges, but there are tools. In the following excerpt from HCPro’s recently published Survey Coordinator’s Handbook, 21st Edition, we offer you a look at using tracers to assess how well your team is doing on compliance.
The following information was taken from a CMS Form-2567 “Statement of Deficiencies” posted online by the federal agency under its Quality, Certification and Oversight Reports (QCOR) group.
