Providers will receive a reprieve on some new Requirements of Participation Phase 3 tenets, if the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has its way, agency officials said in July.
While many Phase 3 rules still will start November 28, providers would have an added year to meet certain Quality Assurance Performance Improvement requirements under a proposed rule.
“The proposal to reduce some of the QAPI requirements in order for the nursing facility to better tailor their program for compliance is a good move by CMS,” said Cynthia Morton, executive vice president for the National Association for the Support of Long-Term Care.
CMS also proposed an update that removes the requirement that the infection preventionist work at the facility at least “part-time.” This allows a consultant to take the role. It also updated food and dietary rules and removed some compliance mandates.
Overall, CMS said its updates would save nursing home operators $616 million annually in administrative costs.
From the August 2019 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
