CMS Emergency Prep rule is now enforceable by surveyors
Hospital Safety Insider, November 16, 2017
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Insider!
It’s finally here.
CMS’ new Emergency Preparedness rule goes into effect on Wednesday, November 15, which means surveyors can now cite facilities who aren’t compliant with the rule’s requirements.
The rule closes gaps in CMS’ previous regulations, such as requiring facilities to have contingency planning in place, emergency response training for staff, and communicate and coordinate their emergency plans with other hospitals and government agencies at the tribal, local, regional, state, and federal levels. Facilities have had over two years to prepare for this rule, and the agency has already said it won’t be accepting excuses for noncompliance.
While the rule itself is new, Steve MacArthur, a safety consultant at The Greeley Company in Danvers, Massachusetts, says that a lot of the new requirements are things that hospitals should have already been doing.
“I suppose I should stop and say that while this rule is new to the ‘marketplace,’ there are really no new concepts contained therein,” he says. “This may provide some guidance for CMS surveyors as they drill down on organizational preparedness activities. But none of this is groundbreaking or in any way representative of a change in how hospitals have done, and will continue to do, business. [It’s] just another set of official ‘eyes’ looking through the compliance microscope.”
Resources
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Insider!
Related Products
-
Hospital Safety Center
Improve compliance with hospital safety standards from The Joint Commission, OSHA, and other regulators with this...
-
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance
Created exclusively for healthcare facility managers, plant operations professionals, and directors of engineering, this...
-
Hospital Safety Insider
Stay on top of hospital safety requirements and best practices with our free, fast-paced weekly update.
-
Basic OSHA Compliance Manual Kit
Total compliance has never been easier. This one convenient package contains everything you need to ensure your outpatient...
-
Basic Dental OSHA Compliance Manual Kit
Total compliance has never been easier. This one convenient package contains everything you need to ensure your dental...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Don't forget the three checks in medication administration
- Practice the six rights of medication administration
- Note similarities and differences between HCPCS, CPT® codes
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- Q&A: Primary, principal, and secondary diagnoses
- What to include on the incident report
- Code diagnoses and outpatient treatment for PTSD
- Know the medical gas cylinder storage requirements
- Differentiate between types of wound debridement
- Understanding nursing roles in quality improvement
- E-mailed
-
- Can we charge for insertion of a PICC line when a certified nurse performs it?
- Ask the expert: How do the NIAHO standards and The Joint Commission standards differ?
- New malnutrition criteria could help ensure consistent coding
- Joint Commission clarifies ligature risk requirements
- Five ways to safeguard your patients' valuables
- Ensure valid physician orders
- Depression and sleep disorders
- Coding, billing, and documentation tips for teaching physicians, interns, residents, and students
- Coding Clinic reiterates guidelines for provider documentation
- Clinical Corner: Revisiting respiratory failure
- Searched
