On September 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its fifth cumulative report on focused infection control surveys in nursing facilities. Like previous reports, the fifth report shows that comparatively few facilities are cited with deficiencies and that most deficiencies are called “no harm.”
On
August 14, 2020, CMS reported that it had cited more than 180 facilities with
immediate jeopardy infection control deficiencies (triple the rate in 2019) and
imposed civil money penalties of nearly $10 million, averaging $55,000 for each
facility.[1] As
reported by the Center,[2]
CMS told residents’ advocates in an August 19 call that information about these
surveys, to date, was reported only on an internal CMS database. All the
survey reports identified by CMS nearly two months ago have still not been
publicly reported. As described below, publicly reported infection
control data, released by CMS on September 30 (and covering the period through
August 31), continue to show many fewer immediate jeopardy infection control
deficiencies than CMS reports having cited in mid-August – 75, compared to 180.
News reports continue to indicate that more deficiencies have been
cited and more penalties have been imposed than CMS publicly reports. For
example, ABC News
reported that since March 1, 2020, New York State has cited infection control
deficiencies at 62 nursing facilities, about one in ten facilities in the
state, and determined that six violations placed residents in immediate
jeopardy. ABC News also
reported that the state imposed fines totaling $328,000 at 23 facilities for
infection control deficiencies. The largest fine, $50,000, was imposed at
Humboldt House Rehab and Nursing Center in Buffalo, where residents with and
without COVID-19 were commingled.[3]
CMS’s September 30 Cumulative Data Release
On
September 30, 2020, CMS made public the fifth cumulative release of 32,681
targeted infection control surveys, covering the period March 4 through August
31. The surveys cited 777 infection prevention and control deficiencies
in 742 facilities (711 facilities were cited with one deficiency, 27 facilities
were cited with two deficiencies, and four facilities were cited with three
deficiencies).
Of
the 777 infection control deficiencies, 75 deficiencies (9.7%) were cited at
the immediate jeopardy level. Although all five releases of infection
control surveys and deficiencies show that less than 3% of focused infection
control surveys cited deficiencies, an increasing percentage of these
deficiencies has been classified as immediate jeopardy.
|
Date of CMS release |
Number of surveys |
Number (%) of
infection control deficiencies cited |
Number (%) of
infection control deficiencies classified as immediate jeopardy |
|
June 4 |
5,724 |
163
(2.8%) |
1
(1.0%) |
|
June 24 |
9,899 |
262
(2.6%) |
4
(1.5%) |
|
July 29 |
16,987 |
347
(2.0%) |
22 (6.6%) |
|
August 26 |
25,593 |
556
(2.2%) |
48 (8.6%) |
|
September 30 |
32,681 |
777
(2.4%) |
75 (9.7%) |
However,
“no harm” deficiencies (levels D, E, and F) have been predominant in all four
cumulative releases of infection control surveys.
To
read the full report, please go to: https://medicareadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Special-Report-5th-Cumulative-Infection-Control-Surveys-PDF-00436350xC6348.pdf
____________________
[1] CMS, “Trump
Administration Has Issued More Than $15 Million in Fines to Nursing Homes
During COVID-19 Pandemic” (Press Release, Aug. 14, 2020), https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/trump-administration-has-issued-more-15-million-fines-nursing-homes-during-covid-19-pandemic.
[2] CMA, “Responding to CMS Announcement on Nursing Home Enforcement
– Infection Control Deficiencies in Nursing Facilities: QCOR Data” (CMA Alert,
Aug. 20, 2020), https://medicareadvocacy.org/responding-to-cms-announcement-on-nursing-home-enforcement-infection-control-deficiencies-in-nursing-facilities-qcor-data/.
[3] Marina Villeneuve, Associated Press, “Inspections found nursing
home lapses as COVID-19 raged,” ABC News (Sep. 24, 2020), https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/inspections-found-nursing-home-lapses-covid-19-raged-73223780.
No comments:
Post a Comment