Every Long-Term Care Employee is a Resident Advocate
The ombuds program in Washington state is vital in holding up the rights of residents staying and living in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities....Read More
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Ombuds Access to Residents and Resident Councils
Washington state is known for its robust advocacy channels for residents living or staying in long term care (LTC) facilities, including assisted living and skilled...Read More
WHCA Welcomes Members to Report on Their DSHS Survey/Inspection Experience
We encourage members who have experienced a recent survey or inspection who are interested in sharing their thoughts and ideas on the survey process to complete our quick informational Survey on Surveys.Read More
Overview of State & Federal CMPs: Including Federal Changes to CMS Civil Monetary Penalties (CMP) Policy
On July 31st the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final rule for the skilled nursing facility (SNF) prospective payment system (PPS)...Read More
CMS Minimum Staffing Requirements - Waiver Criteria
When the minimum staffing rules take effect as referenced in June’s Survey & Regulatory article and in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)...Read More
CMS Minimum Staffing Rule-Requirements
As noted in last month’s Survey & Regulatory Update addressing the facility assessment requirements for minimum staffing, on April 22, 2024, the Centers for Medicare...Read More
CMS Minimum Staffing Rules-Facility Assessment Requirements Go Into Effect Soon! What you Need to Know!
On April 22, 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the anticipated final rule, Minimum Staffing Standards for Long-Term Care Facilities and...Read More
Enhanced Barrier Precautions-Now Required in Skilled Nursing Facilities
On March 20, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released QSO-24-08-NH in reference to Enhanced Barrier Precautions in Nursing Homes. The release...Read More
Federal Arbitration Regulations-F847 & F848
Arbitration agreements have historically been a topic of confusion in our state that would garner the attention every few years with surveyors and facilities. With...Read More
Become Familiar with and Prepared for a DOSH Inspection
Washington State Labor and Industries’ Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) has instituted a Local Emphasis Program (LEP) for enforcement that targets industrial hygiene...Read More
OIG Report - Washington State Failed to Ensure that Nursing Homes Complied with Federal Requirements for Life Safety, Emergency Preparedness, and Infection Control
In the fall of 2022, twenty Washington skilled nursing facilities had unexpected visits from auditors representing the Office of Inspector General (OIG). These surprise visits...Read More
What’s Needed for A Compliance and Ethics Program?
Not so long ago, in November of 2019, Phase 3 of the Requirements of Participation became effective. Part of those requirements expanded the expectations for...Read More
E-Tags and Emergency Preparedness
In September 2016, CMS published the Emergency Preparedness final rule which established consistent emergency preparedness requirements for health care providers participating in Medicare and Medicaid. These requirements then went into effect in November of 2017.Read More
Room and Roommate Changes - What You Need to Know
October 2023 | As many of you know, a major focus on the regulatory changes contained within the Requirements of Participation (ROP) involve Resident Rights and the facility’s need to ensure each resident remains the locus of control regarding decision-making, their care and services, and discharge planning. An area to highlight is room/roommate changes, this was a Phase 1 requirement.Read More
Pharmacy Services-F758- Free from Unnecessary Psychotropic Medications/PRN Use
In 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded the category of antipsychotic medications to the new category of psychotropic medications. In doing...Read More
Dining and Food Service-Phase 3 Requirements of Participation
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made changes and clarifications to the food service and dining requirements in the Phase 3 implementation of the...Read More
Trauma Informed Care-Requirements Under F699 for Skilled Nursing Facilities
There is a continuing focus and pressure from regulatory agencies to ensure that facilities provide trauma informed and culturally competent care. The federal requirements outline...Read More
F700 Guidance—Bedrails
The Phase 2 changes and Phase 3 Requirements of Participation (ROP) that took effect in October 2022 for all nursing homes included clarification and regulatory...Read More
Additions & Changes to Quality of Care FTags
Moving into 2023, it is important to note the changes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made to the State Operations Manual (SOM)...Read More
Psychosocial Outcome Severity Guide and Citations at F600-Abuse
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the psychosocial outcome and severity guide (POSG) in conjunction with the Phase 2 ROP (Requirements of...Read More
CMS Requirements of Participation (ROP) Overview of Abuse and Neglect Changes
It is very important to keep in mind our specific Washington State requirements related to mandatory reporting (RCW 74.34), the WACs in Chapter 388-97, and the...Read More
ROP Phase 3-§483.15 Admission, Transfer, and Discharge
Like many other portions of the requirements of participation (ROP), CMS published changes to the requirements regarding resident admissions, transfers, and discharges, implementation of which...Read More
CMS Requirements of Participation (ROP) Changes - Residents Rights
As you are aware, on October 24, the changes to Phase 2 and the Phase 3 ROP became effective. Residential Care Services (RCS) will be...Read More
Transferring Residents to Other Settings
There seems to be ongoing confusion surrounding the intricacies of involuntarily discharging a resident. Clarity was attempted through this article, with cited rules and step-by-step instructions provided....Read More
Resident Rights - Visitation
Over the last two years, no topic has been more controversial and frequently altered than the guidance surrounding resident visitation. With the retirement of the...Read More
Resident Smoking
Smoking is still a topic that is fraught with personal opinions, safety hazards, resident rights, and multiple regulations. Every facility needs to remain hypervigilant related...Read More
Transfer/Discharge Notice Requirements - Notification of the Ombuds
With the adoption of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Requirements of Participation (RoP), several rules were written to address resident transfers and...Read More
Grievance System
Outlined in section CFR 483.10 Resident Rights in the Federal Register/Vol.81, No.192 are the requirements for all skilled nursing facilities related to management of grievances/complaints. While F585...Read More
State Enforcement Remedies for SNFs
Civil fines or Civil Monetary Penalties (CMP) are the most common state enforcement. Except as otherwise provided in statute, the range for a per-day civil fine is...Read More
Discharge Notice Guidance for Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing
Issuing a discharge notice to a resident and his/her surrogate decision maker is never an easy task. Not only is it emotionally difficult for all involved...Read More