OIG: Pandemic Data Shows Major Changes Needed in Nursing Home Staffing, Surveys, Infection Control

Jan 19, 2023 | Minimum Staffing

OIG: Pandemic Data Shows Major Changes Needed in Nursing Home Staffing, Surveys, Infection Control

A federal watchdog agency is calling for “significant changes” to nursing home operations and oversight in light of new data on Covid-19 infection rates.

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) calls on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to take action in a report issued Thursday.

Recommendations made by the HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) build on previous probes into the skilled nursing industry and include re-examining and revising nursing staff requirements.

The recommendation acknowledges an initiative already underway with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), namely, a staffing mandate proposal and supporting study due to be published this year.

Part two of this first recommendation – re-evaluating staffing data collection – should better align with staffing requirements outlined in the mandate proposal, OIG added.

“For example, amending staffing data to include a timestamp would better allow CMS to determine whether nursing homes have provided around-the-clock nursing services,” OIG said in its report. “This would assist CMS in monitoring compliance with staffing requirements, as well as ensure quality data for future analyses.”

FROM

Skilled Nursing News

PUBLISHED

January 19, 2023

SOURCE

Stulick, Amy. “OIG: Pandemic Data Shows Major Changes Needed in Nursing Home Staffing, Surveys, Infection Control.” Skilled Nursing News, 19 Jan. 2023, skillednursingnews.com/2023/01/oig-pandemic-data-shows-major-changes-needed-in-nursing-home-staffing-surveys-infection-control.

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