Safely Reopening Nursing Homes: Quick Summary of New CMS Guidance

Blog by:  Shelly Maffia, MSN, MBA, RN, LNHA, QCP, CHC, Director of Regulatory Services, Proactive Medical Review

As part of President Trump’s Guidelines for Opening Up America Again, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced new nursing home reopening recommendations for state and local officials. These recommendations detail criteria for relaxing certain restrictions and mitigating the risk of resurgence, visitation and service considerations, and restoration of survey activities.

The guidance encourages state leaders to collaborate with the state survey agency and state and local health departments to decide how these criteria or actions should be implemented in their state and provides examples of how a State may choose to implement the recommendations, which includes options of states to require that all facilities go through each phase at the same time, allowing facilities in a certain region within the state to enter each phase at the same time, or permitting individual facilities to move through each phase based on their status for meeting the criteria for each phase.

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About Proactive Medical Review
HTS partners with Proactive Medical Review, a third party company who specializes in ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and promoting measurable care excellence. The team includes SNF experienced nurse, MDS, Health Facility Administrator, therapist and reimbursement specialists with experience serving in multi-site contract therapy operations, as corporate directors of quality, clinical program specialists, and Compliance Officers. Proactive is uniquely positioned to assist in managing the many changes and challenges facing providers partnered with HTS. Learn more about our commitment to compliance here.