Hospitals Might Get Penalized by CMS for Serving Disadvantaged Patients
Researchers found that in an analysis of more than 3,600 hospitals across the country, those that provide care in neighborhoods with higher social risks achieved lower quality scores from CMS.
CMS Updates State Operations Manual
The updated Interpretive Guidelines for CMS surveyors includes most—but not all—of the new or revised Conditions of Participation for discharge planning and burden reduction outlined in two final rules published in September.
CMS Offers Training on New Electronic Form for Restraint-Related Deaths
CMS announced the new electronic form and provided instructions on how to use it, including a video, in a Quality, Safety & Oversight Group memo, on December 2.
Infection Control is Front and Center at Annual Joint Commission Session
Infection control dominated the day’s presentations, which also looked at expectations for sterile compounding, Legionella control, using personal protective equipment, medication management, lowering maternal death rates, and, of course, ligature risk and suicide prevention.
EPA Says There’s No Need for New Hazardous Spill Regs
In its final action, the EPA explains that new regulations are not necessary to regulate spills of hazardous substances (HS) because the “existing cumulative framework of regulatory requirements adequately serves to prevent and contain CWA HS discharges.”
Joint Commission Boosts Antimicrobial Stewardship, Falls Prevention Programs
This standard (MM.09.01.03) is not brand new—in fact, it is an extension of the original standard (MM.09.01.01), which has been in place since January 1, 2017. Most hospitals and nursing care centers have been under the original standard’s authority in an effort to curb antibiotic resistance in the U.S.
New EPA Rule Bans All Sewering of Hazardous Waste Drugs
The August 21 ban on the sewering of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals is the first deadline set out in new regulations published by the EPA in a final rule in February that overall sets up a new category, Subpart P, under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Incomplete Processes, Insufficient Documentation Were Top Concerns in HFAP Surveys
According to the 2019 HFAP Quality Review, incomplete processes and insufficient documentation were the most-cited standards during 2018 on-site surveys at acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals, laboratories, and ambulatory surgery centers.
TJC Clarifies Suicide Risk NPSG Requirements
Element of performance (EP) 3 requires that the suicide risk assessment include risk factors, which TJC describes as “a combination of individual, biological, psychological, familial, community, cultural, and/or societal characteristics or factors that may contribute to the risk of suicide.”
CMS Proposed Rule Would Strengthen Oversight of AOs
The proposed rule establishes a process AOs with Medicare-approved accreditation programs must follow if there is a sale, transfer, and/or purchase of assets related to the ownership of an AO.