Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

If you're a long-term care facility bewildered by the survey process, you're not alone. The HHS Office of Inspector General has found that not only do surveyors fail to consistently cite deficiencies, the number of deficiencies surveyors will cite for a single problem varies from state to state. In a recent report, the watchdog agency says the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should craft clearer guidelines to make the survey process more transparent. The OIG report, titled "Nursing Home Deficiency Trends and Survey and Certification Process Consistency" (OEI-02-01-00600), also notes that nursing home deficiencies have gone up since 1998. Both the number of nursing homes cited and the average number of deficiencies per survey have risen, the report says. To see the report, go to http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-02-01-00600.pdf.