MDS Alert

Plus: Life Safety F-tag is no more.

You’ll end up in hot water with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) if you don’t fully implement your residents’ advance directives.

So says a new Survey and Certification Letter (S&C) prohibiting such facility policies. “Facilities may not institute facility-wide ‘no-CPR’ policies, and prior to the arrival of emergency medical services (EMS), must provide basic life support, including CPR, to a resident who experiences cardiac arrest in accordance with his or her advance directive,” wrote Evvie Munley, senior health policy analyst with Washington, DC-based Leading Age, in a recent analysis.

“The letter advises that CPR must also be initiated in the absence of an advance directive or a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order,” Munley noted. “CPR-certified staff must be available at all times.”

Link: You can access the S&C at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Provider-Enrollment-and-Certification/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/Downloads/Survey-and-Cert-Letter-14-01.pdf.

In other news …

Heads Up: CMS Deletes F-Tag 454

In another recent S&C, CMS clarified that surveyors should more appropriately cite nursing homes previously determined out of compliance with Physical Environment, Life Safety from Fire (F-Tag 454) under the Life Safety Code (LSC) Requirements, according to Munley.

So CMS has deleted F-Tag 454 from its Automated Survey Processing Environment (ASPEN) system. The deletion will avoid duplication and redundancy, Munley noted. F-Tag 454 is more appropriately cited under LSC requirements.

Link: You can read the entire S&C at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Provider-Enrollment-and-Certification/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/Downloads/Survey-and-Cert-Letter-14-03.pdf.

Did Your State RAI Contacts Change?

On Dec. 13, 2013, CMS released an update to Appendix B of the RAI manual. The changes relate to the list of state RAI coordinators, MDS automation coordinators, RAI panel members, and regional office contacts.

To view the updated Appendix B, go to www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/NursingHomeQualityInits/MDS30RAIManual.html and scroll down to the Downloads section.