This month, CMS released information regarding the testing of a risk-based survey (RBS) approach that allows consistently higher-quality facilities to receive a more focused survey that takes less time and resources than the traditional standard recertification survey. CMS has defined higher-quality facilities as those that might have a history of fewer citations for noncompliance, higher staffing, fewer hospitalizations, and other characteristics (e.g., no citations related to resident harm or abuse, no pending investigations for residents at immediate jeopardy for serious harm, compliance with staffing and data submission requirements).
CMS will limit the number of nursing facilities selected for the RBS to up to 10 percent within a given state. By implementing the RBS, survey resources saved by performing a more focused review would then be available to perform more timely oversight of facilities where the risks to residents’ health and safety are greater. The RBS approach does not apply to complaint surveys. The RBS approach will be tested with states over the next several months.
CMS is testing the RBS approach to prioritize CMS resources and devote more time and resources to nursing homes with lower quality whose residents are at higher risk of harm.