TESTED QUESTIONS AND COMPLETE
SOLUTIONS
●● - As a surveyor, you are part of a team engaged in a process that aims
to ensure that beneficiaries receive quality health care in a safe
environment.
- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) depends on
your knowledge, objectivity, professionalism, and commitment to
monitor compliance with the regulatory conditions & requirements.
- As a surveyor, you are part of a team that helps to evaluate a facility's
compliance; you must show knowledge, objectivity, professionalism,
and commitment; and you must base your judgments on objective
findings.
Answer: CMS Depends on Its Surveyors
●● The survey, certification, and enforcement of regulations for nursing
homes is codified in past practices regarding the composition of survey
teams and expands eligibility requirements.
Survey team size will vary, depending primarily on the size of the
facility being surveyed.
,The State Agency (or, for Federal teams, the regional office (RO))
decides how many members will be on the team.
Survey team size is normally based upon the following factors:
- The bed size of the facility to be surveyed
- Whether the facility has a historical pattern of serious deficiencies or
complaints
- Whether the facility has special care units
- Whether new surveyors are to accompany a team as part of their
training
Answer: How the Survey Team Composition is Determined
●● The State Agency (or, for Federal teams, the RO) decides what the
composition of the survey team will be, as long as certain statutory and
regulatory requirements are met.
- Sections 1819(g)(2)(E) & 1919(g)(2)(E) of the Act & 42 CFR 488.314
require the following:
, - SNF and NF standard surveys must be conducted by a
multidisciplinary team of professionals, at least one of whom must be a
registered nurse (RN)
- Surveyors must be free of conflicts of interest
- Surveyors must successfully complete a training and testing program in
survey and certification techniques that has been approved by the
Secretary.
*** In other words, surveyors must successfully complete the CMS-
approved training AND pass Module A of the Surveyor Minimum
Qualifications Test (SMQT).***
Surveyors who assess the requirements of quality of care, nutritional
dietary services, and drug therapy must also successfully complete
Module B of the S
Answer: Team Composition
●● ANSWER:
The State... HOWEVER, CMS offers guidance.
- Consider using more than one RN