Description
General Overview of Program
If a CMS surveyor showed up at your hospital tomorrow would you know what to do? Are you sure you are in compliance with the entire grievance requirements by CMS, OCR, and the complaint standards by the Joint Commission or your accreditation organization? Do you have a grievance committee? Do you provide a written response as required by CMS? The CMS grievance requirements have recently been a frequent source of investigation. In fact, it was the third most common problematic standard for hospital. The grievance standards are located in the patient rights section.
CMS has a new website to get the CMS manuals. CMS also a new email address to ask questions and information on both of these will be provided.
Come learn what you need to ensure compliance. Many hospitals are surprised at the number of regulations and the detailed requirements on what they need to do to comply with this problematic standard.
Most every hospital in the US that accepts Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement must be in compliance with the CMS Conditions of Participation (CoPs). This program will cover in detail the CMS requirements for hospitals to help prevent the hospital from being found out of compliance with the grievance regulations.
This program will talk about a federal law that is enforced by the Office of Civil Rights requirements under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. This law previously required many specific things and was revised on June 19, 2020. The hospital must still have a grievance procedure and compliance coordinator to investigate any grievances alleging noncompliance with this law including discrimination.
This program will also discuss the Joint Commission standards on complaints and DNV Healthcare on grievances and how these cross walk to the CMS grievance interpretive guidelines. This is a must attend for any hospital. Staff should be aware and follow the hospital grievance and complaint policy. The policy should be approved by the board. Staff should be educated on the policy. This program will cover what is now required to be documented in the medical record.
Objectives:
- Discuss that any hospital that receives reimbursement for Medicare patients must follow the CMS Conditions of Participation on grievances. (This is true whether the hospital is accredited by Joint Commission, HCFA, CIHQ, DNV Healthcare or not).
- Identify that the CMS regulations under grievances includes the requirement to have a grievance committee,
- Discuss that the Joint Commission has complaint standards in the patient’s right (RI) chapter and DNV grievance standard in the patient rights chapter
- Recall that in most cases the patient must be provided with a written notice that includes steps taken to investigate the grievance, the results, and the date of completion.
- Describe that the Office of Civil Rights requires hospitals to have a process to handle grievances related to discrimination under Section 1557 and that there were significant changes on June 19, 2020
Agenda
This program will cover the following:
- Background on CMS CoPs
- How to find current copy
- CMS deficiency memo
- How to find changes in the hospital CoPs
- Issuance of final interpretive guidelines
- OCR grievance requirements under Section 1557 and significant changes June 19, 2020
- TJC standards
- Recent standing order memo
- Preprinted order sheet changes
- Federal Register, interpretive guidelines, survey procedure
- P&P requires to ensure patients have information on rights
- Prompt resolution of grievances
- CMS definition of grievance
- Definition of staff present
- TJC definition and six elements of performance on complaints
- P&P with all the required elements
- Form to collect information
- HIPAA requirements if request not from patient
- Need to determine person is authorized representative
- Billing issues and information on patient satisfaction
- Telephone complaints after discharge
- Customer service and complaints
- Audits and PI required
- Policy to encourage staff
- Process for prompt resolution
- Requirement to inform each patient on how to file grievances
- Board’s responsibility in grievance process
- Grievance committee required
- Referral to QIO and State Department of Health
- Changes to QIOs process
- P&P on grievances
- Written notice to patient requirements
- Time frame for responding to grievances
- 7 day rule
- System analysis approach
- What should critical access hospitals do?
- DNV Health NIAHO standards on grievances
- OCR Section 1557 on complaint process and June 19, 2020 changes
- Policy required
- Grievance process
- Appeal to CEO or board changed
- Time lines for filing grievance on discrimination revised
- Job description for compliance person
Intended audience:
- Consumer Advocates or Patient Advocate
- Chief Operating Officer (COO)
- All nurses with direct patient care
- All nurse managers
- Joint Commission Coordinator
- All department directors
- Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
- Chief Nursing Officer (CNO)
- Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
- Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
- Board Members
- Quality Improvement Coordinator
- Risk Managers
- Legal Counsel
- Nurse Educator
- Patient Safety Officer
- Emergency Department Manager
- Nurse Managers/Supervisors
- Compliance Officer
- Staff Nurses
- Clinic Managers
- Medical Department Nurse Manager
- Surgery Department Nurse Manager
- OR Nurse Director
- ICU Nurse Director
- CCU Nurse Director
- Outpatient Director
- HIPAA privacy and security officer
- Director of Business Office
- Lab director
- Policy and procedure committee
- Ethicist
- Anyone involved in the implementation of the CMS grievance, DNV, OCR, or Joint Commission complaint standards
Note: That Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) have a separate set of hospital CoPs and there is no corresponding restraint standard, and the only mention of restraints is in the swing bed section. However, CAH are expected to have some system of grievance and complaint resolution. Therefore, many CAH adopt most of the requirements. This program will be helpful in determining suggested practices for policy implementation. CAH hospitals that are in systems should know the differences in the two sets of CoPs and may find the program of interest for that reason.
