Florida Environmental Control Rules (Emergency Power Rules) for Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities |
Information and resources regarding the Florida Emergency Environmental Control rule for Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities. Included: links to each rule (59A-4.1265 - for Nursing Homes, and 58A-5.036 for Assisted Living Facilities); sample Emergency Power Plan formats; other sample tools. |
Planning and Response |
Florida Environmental Control Rules (Emergency Power Rules) for Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities |
Information and resources regarding the Florida Emergency Environmental Control rule for Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities. Included: links to each rule (59A-4.1265 - for Nursing Homes, and 58A-5.036 for Assisted Living Facilities). |
Planning and Response |
CMS Waivers during Emergency Declarations |
At the request of the Governor of an affected State, the President may, under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Act, declare a major disaster or emergency if an event is beyond the combined response capabilities of the State and affected local governments. If a Presidential declaration occurs, the HHS Secretary may, under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act, declare that a Public Health Emergency (PHE) exists in the affected State. Once a PHE is declared, section 1135 of the Social Security Act authorizes the Secretary, among other things, to temporarily modify or waive certain Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and HIPAA requirements as determined necessary by CMS. This is a link to the CMS website dedicated to Emergency Waivers. |
Disaster Recovery |
HIPAA and Disasters: What Emergency Professionals Need to Know (HIPAA Communications) |
Knowing what information can be released, to whom, and under what circumstances, is critical for healthcare facilities in disaster response.This guide is designed to answer frequently asked questions regarding the release of information about patients following a emergency/disaster incident. |
Planning and Response |
CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule Testing Requirements for Nursing Homes |
This document is a compilation of the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule requirements for skilled care centers regarding testing and exercises, and includes language from the Interpretive Guidelines about testing and exercises. The document is not intended to replace careful reading and understanding of the regulations promulgated by CMS. It is provided as an at-a-glance look at the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule (CMS EP Rule) requirements for testing and the CMS Interpretive Guidance for testing. In addition to the CMS EP Rule, nursing home providers must also comply with the NFPA Life Safety Codes referenced in the CMS EP Rule, as well as any additional requirements of local county Offices of Emergency Management, or federal state, tribal or regional regulations.
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Planning and Response |
FHCA Crosswalk: CMS Emerg. Prep. Rule and the Florida CEMP for Nursing Homes |
The FHCA Crosswalk compares the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule with Florida's requirements for the Comprehensive Emergency Management Planning Criteria for Nursing Homes (AHCA 3110). This resource is located in the members-only section of the FHCA website. |
Planning and Response |
CMS Survey Tool for the Emergency Preparedness Rule (E-Tags) |
This is a link to the CMS Surveyor's Tool, which accompanied the 6-2-17 advance copy of the Interpretive Guidelines for the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule.
The CMS Survey & Certification Memo (Ref: S&C 17-29-ALL) accompanying the tool states: "Similar to how Life Safety Code (LSC) requirements have a set of K-Tags that are utilized for citations for multiple provider and supplier types, the emergency preparedness requirements will have a set of tags that will be utilized to cite non-compliance for all 17 provider and supplier types included in the final rule. The tags for emergency preparedness will be “E” Tags and accessible to both health and safety surveyors and LSC Surveyors. State survey agencies will have discretion regarding whether the LSC or health and safety surveyors will conduct the emergency preparedness surveys. Note: Surveying for compliance with the emergency preparedness requirements does not begin before November 15, 2017." |
Planning and Response |
CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule Interpretive Guidance (advance copy, 6-2-17) |
This is a link to the advance copy of the Interpretive Guidance for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Emergency Preparedness Rule. The advance copy was released on 6-2-17; per CMS, "For ease of understanding the guidelines, we have kept this copy as a clean copy without red italics. The final version that will be incorporated into the on-line SOM may vary slightly. The final SOM version is the final policy."
CMS Definition of Interpretive Guidelines (IG's): “The IGs are sub-regulatory guidelines which establish our expectations for the function states perform in enforcing the regulatory requirements. Facilities do not require the IGs in order to implement the regulatory requirements. We note that CMS historically releases IGs for new regulations after the final rule has been published."
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Planning and Response |
Medicare Learning Network |
This is a link to the Medicare Learning Network, where notices of National Calls and Webinars are listed as well as recordings of past national calls and webinars. A search tool provides a quick way to find Emergency Preparedness events, past, current and future. |
Training and Exercise |
Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers |
This is a link to a page on the ASPR TRACIE website devoted to the CMS Emergency Preapredness Rule that went into effect November 2016. The compiled resources include the four core elements of the Rule as well as a Topics Collection with information to assist providers and suppliers to implement the new requirements. The four core elements are the CMS Emergency Preapredness Rule are: (1) Emergency Plan; (2) Policies and Procedures; (3) Communication Plan; and, (4) Training and Testing. |
Planning and Response |
CMS National Provider Call on the Emergency Preparedness Rule - Written Transcript |
This is a link to the written transcript of the CMS National Provider Call on the Emergency Preparedness Rule, held on October 5, 2016. See also other CMS resources on the Emergency Preparedness Rule, included in www.LTCprepare.org. |
Planning and Response |
CMS National Provider Call on the Emergency Preparedness Rule - Audio Recording |
This is a link to the audio recording of the CMS National Call on the Emergency Preparedness Rule, held on October 5, 2016. See also several additional resources from CMS related to this call and the rule. |
Planning and Response |
CMS National Provider Call on the Emergency Preparedness Rule - PowerPoint |
On October 5, 2016, CMS conducted a national provider call on the Emergency Preparedness Rule. This link is to the PowerPoint Presentation used on the national call. In addition to this PowerPoint, see also several additional resources related to the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule, listed separately on www.LTCprepare.org as links to their locations on the CMS website:
- Audio Transcript
- Written Transcript
- Frequently Asked Questions (updated as questions are asked/answered) |
Planning and Response |
CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) |
Due to the large volume of questions CMS has received and continues to receive regarding its Emergency Preparedness Rule, CMS has developed a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document to assist providers, State Agencies, Regional Offices, Accreditation Organizations and providers and suppliers in answering their questions. The FAQs are based on questions that CMS has already received since the publication of the final rule and will be updated as new questions are received. CMS encourages anyone with questions about the new rule to review the FAQs before submitting new questions as they may already have been addressed.
Please note that due to the volume of questions being received we may not be able to respond directly to all inquiries. The majority of questions will be answered and clarified through the publication of interpretive guidance. |
Planning and Response |
CMS Emergency Preparedness for Healthcare Providers - Resources & Links |
To assist providers and suppliers in meeting the requirements of the new CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule, CMS has developed a website that contains various resources such as checklists, links to emergency preparedness agencies, planning templates and many other valuable resources. In addition, the website also provides a State-by-State listing of Health Care Coalitions which are available to States to connect with knowledgeable health care emergency preparedness officials. |
Planning and Response |