

The facility must train all employees in emergency procedures when they begin to work in the facility, periodically review the procedures with existing staff, and carry out unannounced staff drills using those procedures. F-517 states, “The facility must have detailed written plans and procedures to meet all potential emergencies and disasters, such as fire, severe weather and missing residents.” 4 (p32) F-518 states, The deficiency citations (commonly called F-tags) for evacuation planning are F-517 and F-518. In all cases, however, when a facility does not meet government standards, a deficiency citation is issued. These include varying levels of fines (≤ $10000/day) and termination from the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Several mechanisms are available to the government when facilities fail to meet certification minimum standards. The intent of the survey and certification process is to monitor and ensure quality of care. 2 The standards require facilities to have “detailed written plans and procedures to meet all potential emergencies and disasters.” 3 (p19) In addition, facilities must “train employees in emergency procedures when they begin work in the facility, periodically review procedures, and carry out unannounced staff drills.” 3 (p19) Specific minimum standards were established for this certification, and surveyors inspect facilities for compliance. Titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act require that all nursing homes accepting Medicare or Medicaid residents must be certified. This oversight primarily occurs via the certification process. Because the federal government is such a dominant purchaser of nursing home care, it is also the dominant overseer of care quality. State Medicaid programs are responsible for approximately 50% of all nursing home expenditures, and Medicaid recipients consume 70% of all bed days. Nursing homes are subject to deficiency citations (and fines) if the Medicare or Medicaid survey and certification process determines that they do not have adequate written evacuation plans. Federal law requires that Medicare-and Medicaid-certified nursing homes have written plans for evacuation. In nursing homes, an important tool used as part of emergency planning is the evacuation plan.

The report further stated that “problems can be tied to a lack of effective emergency planning.” 1 (pii)
#K tagdeficiency cms nursing home compare fire skin#
The US Department of Health and Human Services recently reported that administrators from 5 of 13 nursing homes evacuated as part of Hurricane Katrina described negative effects on residents’ health, such as dehydration, depression, and skin tears. Water supply was the most and evacuation routes were the least well-addressed areas. Some nursing homes need more specific evacuation plans. The rate of citations was relatively stable throughout the study period: each year approximately 0.6% of facilities were found to be deficient in written emergency plans, 2.1% in staff training, 1.2% in written evacuation plans, and 7.9% in fire drills.Ĭonclusions. Most plans had water supply provisions (96%). Four specific citations, for written emergency plans, staff training, written evacuation plans, and fire drills, were examined with multivariate logistic regression. Deficiency citations came from the Online Survey, Certification, and Recording database, collected from 1997 to 2005. Evacuation plans were assessed according to criteria developed by an expert panel funded by the Office of the Inspector General. I examined evacuation plans from 2134 nursing homes and analyzed national data to determine the types of nursing homes cited for deficiencies in their evacuation plans.
