Massachusetts Could Better Ensure That Nursing Homes Comply With Federal Requirements for Life Safety, Emergency Preparedness, and Infection Control

Why OIG Did This Audit

• Nursing homes that participate in Medicare and Medicaid are required by CMS to comply with requirements intended to protect residents, including requirements related to sprinkler systems, smoke detector coverage, and emergency preparedness plans. Facilities are also required to develop infection control programs.
• In Massachusetts, the State’s Department of Public Health conducts surveys of nursing homes to ensure compliance with Federal requirements.
• This audit is one in a series of audits that assesses compliance with Federal requirements for life safety, emergency preparedness, and infection control.

What OIG Found

We identified 236 deficiencies related to life safety, emergency preparedness, or infection control at the 20 nursing homes in Massachusetts that we reviewed.

These deficiencies put the health and safety of residents, staff, and visitors at an increased risk of injury or death during a fire or other emergency, or in the event of an infectious disease outbreak.

What OIG Recommends

We made four recommendations to Massachusetts to improve the health and safety of residents, staff, and visitors at nursing homes, including that it follow up with the 20 nursing homes where we identified deficiencies to ensure that they have taken corrective actions. We also recommended that Massachusetts work with CMS to identify nursing homes requiring frequent inspections. The full recommendations are in the report.

In written comments on our draft report, Massachusetts concurred with our recommendations and described the actions that it had taken or planned to take to address them.