The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a S&C Letter detailing the Nursing Home Quality Improvement Questionnaire (NHQIQ) discussed earlier this week. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates CMS to establish standards and provided technical assistance to nursing homes on the development and best practices relating to Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) activities.
In implementing the ACA provisions, CMS has established the below initiatives to best address QAPI programs.
1) Refinement of QAPI tools and resources- CMS is currently developing QAPI tools and resources that nursing homes may use to design and implement an effective QAPI program.
2) Launch a QAPI demonstration- A QAPI demonstration project launched September 2011 with seventeen nursing homes in four states to test tools and resources and provide technical assistance to nursing homes in QAPI implementation.
3) Roll-out of QAPI materials- CMS will release materials later this year that will support nursing homes in QAPI implementation.
4) Draft of the QAPI regulations- CMS is currently in the process of drafting QAPI regulations. We will provide an overview and analysis of the proposed regulation when it is released. Nursing homes will be required to submit their QAPI plans to CMS one year after promulgation of the final regulation.
5) Launch of the NHQIQ- CMS has just launched the NHQIQ via an independent contractor. The NHQIQ response time frame is between June 25th and September 28 of this year.
CMS has included a copy of the NHQIQ in this S&C Letter. Even if your facility was not chosen to participate, providers are encouraged to examine the NHQIQ as it will provide insight into areas CMS is considering for QAPI implementation.
Should you have any questions, please contact:
Todd Selby at 317.977.1440 or tselby@wp.hallrender.com;
Brian Jent at 317.977.1402 or bjent@wp.hallrender.com; or
David Bufford at 502.568.9368 or dbufford@wp.hallrender.com,
or your regular Hall Render attorney.
