Long-Term Care

CMS revises survey guidance for quality of life F-tags: Are you in compliance?

PPS Alert for Long-Term Care, August 1, 2009

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CMS recently released new guidance for nursing home surveyors regarding 11 F-tags, many of which focus on the quality of life provided to nursing home residents. The guidance, which can be found in Appendix PP, Guidance for Surveyors, of the State Operations Manual, went into effect June 12.
The quality of life F-tags were originally adopted in 1991. “However, some of the regulatory language of these F-tags was very general, leaving providers and surveyors on their own to determine what the regulations actually meant,” says Karen C. Schoeneman, MPA, deputy director of CMS’ division of nursing homes. “The new guidance will make sure everyone is on the same page.”
The new guidance provides surveyors with explanations, definitions, and instructions to assess compliance with the F-tags.
Facilities can use this information to focus their attention on specific approaches and implement techniques to improve their residents’ quality of life, such as consistent assignment and deinstitutionalizing care.

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