A new CMS Survey and Certification Letter, S&C: 17-20-NH, conveys updates to the Special Focus Facility (SFF) program for Fiscal Year 2017. The SFF program focuses on nursing homes that have a persistent record of significant deficiencies. Each year KDADS selects 2 SFFs from a list of 10 candidates that CMS supplies. CMS informs candidate homes of their inclusion in the CMS list in the monthly preview of the 5 Star Quality Rating System. Providers must log into the Casper system to retrieve their preview. SFFs “graduate” from the program once they have completed two consecutive standard surveys with no F+ deficiencies (or G+ for LSC deficiencies), and no survey in between the 2 standard surveys with such tags. More details in the S&C letter.
