The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced last Friday that it’s bolstering scrutiny for chronically under-performing nursing homes through revisions of its Special Focus Facility Program. Nursing home negligence attorneys share that the Special Focus Facility Program is designed to stimulate improvements in nursing homes identified as having a history of serious quality issues through additional inspections, monitoring and enforcement actions. CMS states that it will strengthen the requirements that need to be achieved for a facility to complete the program, increase the enforcement actions such as civil monetary payments and payment denials, and lengthen the period that facilities are monitored. Nursing home negligence attorneys believe that these changes will increase the accountability for nursing home operators and owners that do not meet care standards for their residents.
Nursing home regulators, critics, and nursing home negligence attorneys have historically criticized that underperforming facilities have been known to ping-pong on and off the Special Facilities Program in the past. They allege that this back and forth demonstrates that no true sustained changes were implemented in these facilities. Many hope that the newly implemented changes to the program will help crack down on nursing homes that understaff and provide inadequate care. Currently, 88 nursing homes nationwide are enrolled in the Special Focus Facility (SFF) Program. An additional 400 facilities are not far behind, landing on the SFF candidate list.
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), chairman of the Special Committee on Aging, called for increased oversight of the programs through a letter to CMS in May 2022. The Committee’s investigation found that 20% of the nursing homes in the Special Focus Facility (SFF) program had not been surveyed within the intervals established for the program. The senator also demanded program expansions, noting that the 400 nursing homes on the candidate list receive no additional monitoring due to lacking government resources. The revisions announced today do not appear to expand the program to include additional facilities into the SFF program.
CMS Announced the following revisions to the Special Focus Facility (SFF) program to improve monitoring of these underperforming facilities.
Nursing home negligence attorneys want the public to understand how to identify SFF program facilities on the Care Compare website. Facilities in the SFF program will not display a star ranking. Instead, these facilities are identified with an icon and text that indicates their participation in the SFF program. Consumers should take great caution in closely evaluating a SFF facility prior to deciding to seek care at one of these chronically underperforming facilities.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services update a list to notify the public of nursing homes that have been identified for a history of serious quality issues that are participants of the Special Focus Facilities program to stimulate care quality improvements. Nursing home negligence attorneys recommend that consumers consult this list when researching placement options for their loved one.
The following table outlines the SFF facilities list for Pennsylvania as of September 28, 2022. This list is regularly updated. Facilities that demonstrate significant improvements during inspections may graduate from the SFF program, and new facilities may be added.
If you are considering admission to a nursing home, especially, one on this list, you should consider taking the following steps:
If your loved one has suffered nursing home abuse or neglect, nursing home negligence lawyers recommend taking the following actions:
Contact nursing home negligence lawyers at the Wieand Law Firm, LLC if your loved one suffered a preventable injury at a nursing home or assisted living facility. Nursing homes must provide a standard of care for their residents. When these care standards are not met, our nursing home abuse lawyers can hold facilities liable for preventable injuries such as falls, pressure ulcers and avoidable elopements. Call 215-666-7777 to speak directly to an attorney for a free case review and evaluation.
