Long-Term Care Facility Infection Control Enforcement: Increased Government Scrutiny and Penalties

This CLE course will guide healthcare counsel on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) enhanced infection control enforcement actions. The panel will examine CMS' new instructions for state agencies conducting surveys and what that means for nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities (collectively, SNFs). The panel will also address reporting requirements for SNFs and will offer best practices for what SNFs should do to comply with CMS requirements and prepare for enforcement actions.

Nursing homes are operating under intense regulatory scrutiny and face an increased risk of government enforcement actions because of the virus' effect on residents. The CMS believe infection control is an ongoing compliance concern for long-term care facilities. In June 2020, CMS announced its enhanced enforcement efforts against nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities (collectively, SNFs) related to their infection control practices. CMS also provided additional directives to state agencies conducting surveys regarding COVID-19 reporting and infection control.

Further, CMS also announced the imposition of increased penalties on SNFs determined to be non-compliant with the infection control requirements. States must also perform these surveys now and going forward. The results of infection control evaluations will be reported publicly.

SNFs should implement best practices for infection control to ensure compliance and be prepared for heightened government scrutiny and be ready to respond to state surveys and enforcement actions.

Listen as our authoritative panel of healthcare attorneys discusses the CMS' new instructions for state agencies conducting surveys and what that means for SNFs, reporting requirements for SNFs, the enhanced enforcement actions, and what SNFs should do to comply with CMS requirements and prepare for enforcement actions.