Federal Gov’t Shutdown: Survey and Certification Activities

In the wake of the federal government shutdown, we have received member inquiries regarding how this will affect nursing home surveys.

FHCA queried Kim Smoak, Chief of Field Operations at the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), who responded that, “At this time we have been instructed to follow guidance from the 2013 shutdown (see CMS S&C 14-02-ALL), which means today we did not start any nursing home recertification surveys, but will push our surveys back.  If we have complaints that allege immediate jeopardy then we proceed with conducting those surveys.”

In the October 2013 CMS S&C Letter, CMS outlined those activities that are deemed essential that will continue to be performed, which include investigating complaints where there is an allegation of harm; enforcement actions where there is Immediate Jeopardy or harm; revisits that are necessary to prevent termination; or any situation that is regarded to be an immediate threat to life or safety.
The 2013 CMS Memo noted that during the shutdown, initial surveys, revisit surveys not required to prevent termination, recertification surveys, complaint surveys (except where Immediate Jeopardy is alleged) and Informal Dispute Resolution (IDRs) will not be performed. 

FHCA members with additional questions can contact Deborah Franklin at dfranklin@fhca.org or another member of the Quality Affairs team.