LeadingAge Obtains CMS Clarification on Emergency Preparedness Exercises

Posted on February 24, 2021 by Jonathan Lips

Under CMS emergency preparedness regulations, nursing facilities are required to conduct two emergency preparedness testing exercises annually – with exercises alternating between full-scale functional exercises and exercises of choice (mock drill, table-top exercise, workshop). 

If a facility experiences an actual natural or man-made emergency that requires activation of its emergency plan, the provider will be exempt from their next required full-scale community-based exercise or individual, facility-based functional exercise following the onset of the actual event.

In light of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, as we reported in this earlier Advantage story, CMS last fall issued memorandum QSO-20-41-All clarifying the testing exercise requirements to ensure that surveyors, as well as providers, are aware of the exemption available to a facility based on activation of its emergency plan.

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the public health emergency declaration and enter year two of the PHE, the LeadingAge team asked CMS: will providers who continue to operate under the emergency plan once again be exempt from the full-scale exercise? The answer CMS provided is no, there will not be a second exemption for a continuous emergency.

Here’s an example from LeadingAge: A nursing facility was planning to complete a full-scale functional exercise in June 2020. The nursing home activated the emergency plan in April 2020 in response to COVID-19. The nursing home was exempt from completing the full-scale functional exercise in 2020 and completed the required exercise of choice in 2020. Though the nursing home continues to operate under the emergency plan, the nursing home must complete the full-scale functional exercise in 2021 in addition to the required exercise of choice.

See the complete QSO-20-41-All for additional information and examples.