Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a proposed rule on February 2, 2011 that would require ten Medicare certified providers and suppliers, including Long Term Care Facilities, to issue a notice to Medicare beneficiaries regarding the beneficiary’s right to voice concerns to the Quality Improvement Organization (“QIO”) in their state. In Indiana, the Medicare QIO is Health Care Excel. A similar notice requirement is already in-place for Medicare beneficiaries receiving in-patient hospital care and CMS believes that the expansion of notice to Medicare beneficiaries regarding their right to voice concerns to a QIO will further assist in improving the quality of health care.
The proposed rule would require each Medicare certified Long Term Care Facility to inform all Medicare beneficiaries, or his/her representative or surrogate, at the time of admission of the beneficiary’s right to file a written complaint with the QIO in their state regarding the quality of care they are receiving or have received. The Long Term Care Facility must supply the Medicare beneficiary with the name, phone number, email and mailing address of the QIO upon admission. The Long Term Care Facility would also be required to document in the beneficiary’s record that the information was provided upon admission.
CMS estimates that complying with the new requirement, once made final, would impose a one-time two (2) hour burden on each Long Term Care Facility to develop a standard written form that would fulfill the notice requirement. CMS also estimates that it will take a total of five (5) minutes to inform the beneficiary and document the distribution of the notice.
Comments on the proposed rule are being accepted by CMS until 5:00 p.m. on April 4, 2011. For more information about how to comment, see the left column on page 5756 of the Proposed Rule, or contact Zach Cattell at 317-616-9001 or zcattell@ihca.org.
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