Expected increased survey scrutiny for unvaccinated agency staff

By Sheila Salisbury-Sizemore RN, BSN SimiTree Senior Manager, Compliance

Now that the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS has retired the Focused Infection Control (FIC) Survey and mandated a COVID-19 vaccine, your agency can expect surveyors to take a close look at unvaccinated staff on your next survey.

CMS wants surveyors to evaluate an agency’s infection prevention and control by using the existing survey process. Anytime the agency undergoes a survey, whether it’s a routine 36-month survey, a complaint survey, a survey due to the addition of a branch or a survey for any other reason, surveyors are going to look at how well the agency is meeting infection control regulations.

Unvaccinated staff will likely attract the most surveyor scrutiny. Agencies can expect to see unvaccinated staff targeted as a priority to validate compliance and effectiveness of the agency’s policies, procedures, and infection control program.

It’s also likely that home visits will be selected based on unvaccinated staff assignments rather than patient assignments.