GAO Issues Report: CMS Needs to Continue to Strengthen Oversight of Infection Prevention and Control
On September 14, 2022, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report, COVID-19 in Nursing Homes: CMS Needs to Continue to Strengthen Oversight of Infection Prevention and Control. The report recommends that CMS strengthen oversight of the infection preventionist role and infection prevention and control guidance. The GAO recommends that CMS establish minimum infection preventionist training standards as well as collect infection preventionist staffing data. The data could be used to determine whether the current infection preventionist staffing requirement is sufficient. The GAO also recommends that CMS provide additional guidance in the State Operations Manual on making scope and severity determinations for IPC-related deficiencies.