Comparison of CMS Nursing Home Visitation Guidance with DOH Visitation Guidance (Superseded by March 25, 2021 DOH Guidance)
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued revised visitation guidance for nursing homes on March 10th. This guidance is inconsistent with New York State guidance in many respects. Yet, CMS has indicated that a failure to comply with its guidance may subject the facility to enforcement actions. LeadingAge NY has developed this chart outlining the differences between the two guidance documents. We have spoken with the Department of Health (DOH) about these differences and asked them to adopt the CMS guidance in order to avoid confusion and inconsistencies. They are reviewing the guidance and considering our request. In the interim, we recommend that nursing homes attempt to align their policies as much as possible with both documents, and where they cannot be aligned, to follow New York State guidance.
We will let members know as soon as we have any additional information on the State’s position. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.