CMS QSO Reminds Hospitals of Their Responsibilities When Discharging to Post-Acute Care
On June 6th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued memorandum QSO-23-16-Hospitals, reinforcing hospital requirements when discharging patients to post-acute care settings. The memorandum was created because of the collaborative efforts of LeadingAge National and member input on the information gap experienced. It highlights the issues with information sharing that were provided and recommends resources to assist hospitals with ensuring accurate and thorough discharge information. There is no action required from long term care providers in response to the memorandum, as its intent is to remind hospitals of their responsibilities in the communication of valuable information in the discharge process.
The Memorandum Summary states the following:
CMS is committed to ensuring that the health and safety of patients are protected when discharges from hospitals and transfers to post-acute care providers occur. Therefore, we are providing the following information:
- Reminding state agencies (SAs), accrediting organizations (AOs), and hospitals of the regulatory requirements for discharges and transfers to post-acute care providers.
- Highlighting the risks to patients’ health and safety that can occur due to an unsafe discharge.
- Recommendations that hospitals can leverage to improve their discharge policies and procedures to improve and protect patients’ health and safety.
Contact: Carrie Mosley, cmosley@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8383 ext. 147