CMS Issues Revisions to Nursing Home Special Focus Facility Program
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a number of revisions to the nursing home Special Focus Facility (SFF) program on Oct. 21st. The changes include expectations for good faith efforts, enhanced enforcements while in the program, updated criteria for graduation from the program, enhanced monitoring and enforcement following graduation, and provisions for termination from Medicare/Medicaid for non-improving SFFs.
The revisions do not expand the number of nursing homes served by the program, but direct State Survey Agencies (SSAs) to consider staffing and other factors such as complaint findings or enforcement actions when recommending for the program nursing homes from the SFF candidates list.
More information on the revisions from LeadingAge National is available here. Please feel free to reach out to any member of the Policy team if you have further questions.
Contact: Amy Nelson, anelson@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8383 ext. 146