On August 17, CMS announced it will resume routine inspections of all Medicare and Medicaid certified providers and suppliers to improve the safety and quality of life of patients and residents. CMS had previously suspended certain routine inspections as part of its response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to prioritize infection control and immediate jeopardy situations and to give health care providers and suppliers time needed to respond to the spread of COVID-19.

“At President Trump’s direction, CMS has worked closely with states to complete focused infection control surveys of virtually all nursing homes in the country in just a few months,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “These surveys fortified healthcare facilities around the country to prepare for and implement actions to prevent transmission of the virus and provided indispensable insight into the situation on the ground. As CMS resumes some survey and enforcement activities that were previously put on hold, the health and safety of America’s patients will always be our top priority.”

In the guidance, CMS directed the resumption of onsite revisit surveys, non-immediate jeopardy complaint surveys, and annual recertification surveys as soon as resources are available. In addition, CMS is providing guidance on resolving enforcement cases that were previously on hold because of survey prioritization changes. The agency will also temporarily expand the desk review policy, when state surveyors ensure that facilities return back into compliance with Federal requirements without an onsite survey, to include all noncompliance reviews except for immediate jeopardy citations that have not been removed.

CMS is also issuing updated guidance for the re-prioritization of routine state survey agency activities on Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments. This updated guidance will provide flexibility and discretion to state survey agencies so that they can resume their survey activities based on the status of COVID-19 infections in their states.

For More information:

State Agency Memorandum (PDF)
Toolkit on State Actions to Mitigate COVID-19 Prevalence in Nursing Homes (PDF) (Updated August 2020)

See the full text of this excerpted Press Release (Issued August 17).

Reduce Provider Burden: Electronic Medical Documentation Interoperability Pilot Program

CMS encourages you to participate in an interoperability pilot to test specific medical documentation exchange use cases. The Electronic Medical Documentation Interoperability (EMDI) Initiative is designed to reduce provider burden by assembling a robust network of stakeholders willing to:

Participate in piloting EMDI use cases
Contribute to generating and testing a standard implementation guide for orders/referrals
Participate in the CMS interoperability measurement efforts
Collaborate with other stakeholders to achieve interoperability

Participants will have an opportunity to test interoperable solutions by piloting one or more of the three use cases:

Submit an order or referral with attachments
Request for medical documentation
Request for signature

For More Information:

Register for an EMDI introduction webinar
Email EMDI_team@scopeinfotechninc.com

Events

CMS-CDC Fundamentals of COVID-19 Prevention for Nursing Homes: New Format

Starting August 20, we will offer training in a new way:

Pre-recorded Sessions: We will post another training every Thursday at 4pm ET through September. Access them anytime on QIOProgram.org.
Bi-weekly Question and Answer Sessions: Register to ask CMS and CDC experts questions about training through January 2021.
Certificates of Participation: Watch for details on how to get certificates for completing training and/or participating in Q&A sessions.

Questions? Email NursingHomeTrainings@thebizzellgroup.com

MLN Matters® Articles

New COVID-19 Policies for Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) Hospitals, Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs), and Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs) due to Provisions of the CARES Act— Revised

CMS revised MLN Matters Special Edition Article SE 20015 New COVID-19 Policies for Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) Hospitals, Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs), and Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs) due to Provisions of the CARES Act (PDF) to add an update about implementation of Section 3710 of the CARES Act for IPPS hospitals to address potential Medicare program integrity risks.

Publications

Enhancing RN Supervision of Hospice Aide Services

A new Enhancing RN Supervision of Hospice Aide Services Medicare Learning Network Fact Sheet is available. Learn about:

Visits to assess quality of care
Documentation requirements

Multimedia

Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Provision (June 2020)

A Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Provision (June 2020) Web-Based Training (WBT) course is available through the Medicare Learning Network Learning Management System. Learn about:

Medicare payment
Ongoing Responsibility for Medicals
Benefits Coordination & Recovery Center

Like the newsletter? Have suggestions? Please let us know!

Subscribe to MLN Connects. Previous issues are available in the archive.

This newsletter is current as of the issue date. View the complete disclaimer.

Follow the MLN on Twitter #CMSMLN, and visit us on YouTube.

The Medicare Learning Network®, MLN Connects®, and MLN Matters® are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

2020-08-20-mlnc

News

CMS Announces Resumption of Routine Inspections of All Provider and Suppliers, Issues Updated Enforcement Guidance to States, and Posts Toolkit to Assist Nursing Homes