CMS Releases Nursing Home Enforcement Information

On June 3, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted information about nursing home provider enforcement from 2006 to 2014 as part of the agency’s “ongoing efforts to ensure transparency, consistency of application of enforcement remedies, and data management to track enforcement actions across the nation.” The report includes general information about nursing home enforcement, frequently asked questions about enforcement, and enforcement reports detailing the distribution of federal enforcement remedies from 2006 to 2014.

The CMS enforcement reports provide information about CMS and state survey agency enforcement actions for all Health Inspection and Life Safety Code Standard and Complaint surveys from 2006 to 2014. The reports show the percent of providers with remedies in effect (rather than imposed) and detail civil monetary penalties by region, as well as the frequency of per day and per instance civil monetary penalties in effect. There is additional data on the number of facilities by region with the following enforcement remedies: denial of payment; discretionary and mandatory denial of payment for new admissions; directed in service training; directed plan of correction; termination; state monitoring; temporary management; transfer of residents; and facility closure.

The CMS report also discusses the impact of the recession that began in December 2007 and officially ended in June 2009. The period before the recession showed an increase in survey activities, initiatives, and deficiency citations, while there was a decline in overall survey activities and enforcement actions after the recession began.