Top 6 Survey Preparedness Tips for Assisted Living Facilities

Survey preparedness refers to the ongoing process of making sure that your senior assisted living facility meets regulatory standards and is ready for any inspection at a moment’s notice.

This readiness is the key to maintaining compliance and providing quality care to residents.

In this article, we'll share six practical tips to help you stay prepared and confident for any upcoming survey.

What Does Survey Preparedness Mean?

Survey preparedness is an important part of managing an assisted living community. It helps you maintain compliance and meet high standards by understanding the requirements that the survey team typically looks for.

Survey preparedness ensures that your staff is ready for inspection at any time. It’s about being proactive, so you’re not scrambling at the last minute, which can lead to mistakes and non-compliance.

Types of Surveys for Assisted Living Communities

Assisted living facilities are subject to different types of surveys. It's important to understand each one to help you prepare effectively:

• State and federal surveys: These inspections evaluate your facility’s compliance with resident care, safety, and operational standards set by government agencies.
• CMS surveys: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) conduct these surveys to check if you meet compliance with F-tags. They focus on facilities relying on Medicare and Medicaid programs.
• Mock surveys: These are practice inspections, either internal or external, designed to simulate actual surveys. Conducting a mock survey helps you adapt to the methods or tools surveyors use to assess compliance.
• Facility assessment: This is a continuous review of your facility's infrastructure, cleanliness, and operational practices to guarantee it remains survey-ready.

6 Tips to Improve Survey Preparedness

After understanding what to expect during a survey, it’s time to learn how to improve your assisted living facility’s readiness. Below are some tips you can follow:

1. Develop a Year-Round Compliance Program

Developing and implementing a compliance program helps your facility stay prepared at all times.

Make compliance a part of daily operations by regularly reviewing policies, conducting self-assessments, and keeping up with regulatory changes.

2. Keep Detailed and Accurate Documentation

Surveyors will spend a lot of time reviewing your facility’s documentation, so it’s important to keep everything organized and up-to-date.

Make sure to store resident records, staff training logs, and compliance reports in a secure and accessible location.

Don't forget to review them regularly to demonstrate that your facility follows all required regulations.

3. Train Staff for Survey Preparedness

Your assisted living staff plays an important role in passing surveys, so proper training is crucial.

Conduct regular training sessions that cover compliance protocols, resident care standards, and emergency procedures.

If you're expecting a CMS survey, you can share copies of the critical element pathways (CEPs) that surveyors will use in advance. Then, explain what each pathway entails to make sure all employees understand the survey process.

Your facility administrator or your vice president of operations can lead this training to keep everyone on the same page.

4. Focus on Resident Safety and Care Standards

Resident safety and care standards are common areas of focus during surveys. You must prioritize them to help your assisted living facility pass inspections.

This could be as simple as installing safety features like wheelchair ramps and handrails.

You can also observe staff to check if they follow safety protocols, from fall prevention to medication management.

5. Maintain Facility Cleanliness and Sanitation

Cleanliness is another key focus during surveys. This includes everything from maintaining clean common areas to handling food properly.

Make sure your facility consistently meets all sanitation guidelines to avoid non-compliance issues.

For example, in the kitchen area, you can require staff to wash hands, wear protective equipment, store food at proper temperatures, and deep clean kitchen equipment every week.

6. Use Technological Solutions

Lastly, consider using technology to make survey preparation much easier.

You can invest in assisted living software to track inspections, automate documentation, train teams, and assign corrective actions without the pesky paperwork.

MyFieldAudits Helps You Prepare for Any Survey

MyFieldAudits is an all-in-one quality assurance platform that helps assisted living facilities face surveys with confidence.

They go beyond being just a software app. MyFieldAudits is an integrated partner solution that creates inspection programs, deploys the software, trains clients, and monitors usage compliance.

With MyFieldAudits, assisted living communities no longer have to figure out everything on their own. They can receive expert guidance on how to achieve regulatory compliance for state surveys.

Schedule a demo today to get started!

Need more information? Contact MyFieldAudits by dialing (844) 344-7265 or sending an email to info@MyFieldAudits.com.

FAQs About Survey Preparedness

Who can benefit from survey preparedness?

Everyone in an assisted living facility can benefit from survey preparedness, including administrators and frontline caregivers.

Besides assisted living communities, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities can also find this helpful when facing unexpected surveys.

How do you help your staff member be survey-ready?

You can help your staff be survey-ready by providing regular training, conducting mock surveys, and communicating clear expectations.

How can assisted living facilities improve their survey preparedness over time?

Facilities can improve survey preparedness by continuously updating policies. They can also use technological resources to simplify documentation and compliance checks.

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