CMS Releases Revised Dementia Care Survey Tools

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced a recommendation for skilled nursing facilities to use updated survey materials to assess their dementia care practices (go.cms.gov/1OQiJXA). The updated survey, Focused Dementia Care Survey Tools, was released on November 27 and includes a variety of questions relating to a facility’s quality assurance practices, dementia care leadership, dementia care policies and procedures, and adherence with dementia care guidelines.

The updates were initiated in 2014, with a pilot project to elicit information about the process for prescribing antipsychotic medications and to assess compliance with other requirements for dementia care practices in nursing homes. After the initial survey was completed, CMS sought to make the survey process more streamlined to enable more efficient and accurate identification and citation of deficient practices as well as recognition of successful dementia care programs. The survey materials were then revised in response to feedback from stakeholders. They have now been made available to the public so that facilities may use them to assess their own dementia care practices.—Kara Rosania