Insights
Health Care Chair Sanders and Associate Weeden Analyze CMPs Resulting from New CMS Analytic Tool for PADONA Journal
In the January 2015 issue of the Pennsylvania Association of Directors of Nursing Administration (PADONA) Journal, Health Care Chair Paula G. Sanders and Associate Laura M. Weeden look at recent six-figure civil money penalties (CMP) being levied in Pennsylvania. The CMPs, imposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), had seldom been applied to Pennsylvania's nursing facilities before.
Ms. Sanders and Ms. Weeden note that the CMPs are the result of a new analytic tool being used by CMS "designed to normalize the enforcement process across the country."
They go on to explain:
"Given the potentially devastating impact of the new CMP enforcement protocols, facilities should reconsider their entire approach to surveys. At a minimum, Directors of Nursing should be more proactive when they receive statements of deficiencies. Citations should be reviewed for factual accuracy, as improperly identified dates or missing documentation that would prove correction of a deficient practice could result in high CMPs."
