AGING AND DISABILITY SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

2008 NH "Dear Administrator" Letters

November 24, 2008

ADSA:  NH #2008-018
Quality Indicator Survey Selection

Dear Nursing Facility/Home Administrator:

As you may know, over the past few years the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began selecting a limited number of states to implement the new Quality Indicator Survey (QIS) process.  Nine states have been selected to date.  The purpose of this letter is to let you know that Washington State has been selected by CMS to participate in the next phase of the Quality Indicator Survey (QIS) process.

The QIS is a computer-assisted survey process designed to focus survey resources to better achieve a more comprehensive and consistent survey process for nursing homes.  It is a two-staged process used by surveyors to systematically review specific nursing home requirements and objectively investigate any regulatory areas that are triggered.  Although the survey process is revised under the QIS, the federal regulations and interpretive guidance remain unchanged.

In early 2009, the CMS contractors will begin training Washington’s nursing home surveyor staff to the QIS process.  By sometime in March 2009, the first two teams of surveyors should have completed the approval process to become Registered QIS Surveyors.  The contractors, by May 2009, will have completed the train-the trainer process and Washington will then have Certified QIS Trainers who will go on to train teams until we have the process implemented statewide.  We anticipate implementing the QIS process statewide by sometime 2011, or sooner if possible.

The CMS contractors have asked that we establish a means to access QIS information.  A link has been added to our website at http://www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov/professional/nh.htm
under the title “QIS (Quality Indicator Survey) Project:  CMS Revised NH Survey Process.”  Information posted includes links to the QIS brochure and QIS resource manual.  Please keep checking this website for new and updated information on QIS.

The contractors will have an informational call that Washington providers and other stakeholders can call into a few weeks before QIS implementation.  As soon as we have information about this call, we will post it on the website.  We will not be notifying you of this call by any other method.

Sincerely,

Joyce Pashley Stockwell, Director
Residential Care Services