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HFAP ligature standard remains same after newest CMS memo

Briefings on Accreditation and Quality, October 1, 2018

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 HFAP, one of the oldest accrediting organizations for U.S. hospitals, recently updated 13 of its standards to align with the expectations on ligature risk and other hazards that CMS outlined in a memo in December 2017. The standards have been approved by CMS, but will not be revised again in light of an earlier CMS memo issued in July, says Alise Howlett, AIA, CFPE, CHFM, HFAP’s emergency management, physical environment, and life safety standards advisor.

The July CMS memo states that surveyors would use Joint Commission ligature recommendations (see CMS surveyors agree to use Joint Commission recommendations on ligature risk as guide). With this in mind, Howlett says the additional guidance offered by the December memo is simply that: additional guidance. 

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Briefings on Accreditation and Quality.

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