Noting significant compliance to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, CMS is issuing updated guidance to state surveyors that calls for fewer vaccine policy reviews in the field.
“Nearly 12,000 providers and suppliers have been surveyed for compliance with the requirement,” CMS noted in the memo June 14, 2022. “To date, 95% of those providers and suppliers surveyed by states have been found to be in substantial compliance with this requirement.”
Effective immediately, surveyors will only be expected to perform compliance reviews of the staff vaccination requirement during initial and recertification surveys and in response to specific compliant allegations that allege non-compliance with the staff vaccination requirement. CMS notes that these reviews previously were expected on every survey.
In the memo to surveyors, CMS also stressed that good-faith efforts and the risk for real harm should be considered before citing vaccine requirements as immediate jeopardy, condition-level or actual harm determinations.