State Operations Manual Update: Chapter 7

Transmittal # R244SOMA Issue Date 2026-06-26 Subject Revisions to State Operations Manual (SOM), Chapter 7 Implementation Date r2026-06-26 CR # N/A Publication # 100-07 Transmittal Year 2026 Downloads I. SUMMARY OF CHANGES: CMS updated and revised guidance in chapter 7 of the SOM that includes: CMS also added guidance previously found in Appendix …

CDC TRAIN: Free Continuing Education to Support Safer Healthcare Practices

Healthcare personnel play a critical role in preventing infections, improving patient outcomes, and advancing healthcare quality. CDC TRAIN, a national learning management system, offers free, on-demand training courses designed to help healthcare professionals strengthen their knowledge and skills in areas that support patient safety, infection prevention, healthcare quality, and public health practice. Many …

CDC Local-Level COVID-19 Transmission Estimates

CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA), in collaboration with the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), has launched sub-state, Local-Level COVID-19 Transmission Estimates (Rt)—providing public health partners with earlier, more locally relevant insight into changes in disease transmission.  CFA’s epidemic trend website maps out the time-varying …

OIG: CMS’s Processes Didn’t Ensure Accuracy of PBJ-Reported Staffing Data

Report number: A-09-24-02005 Report Materials Why OIG Did This Audit What OIG Found Not all nursing homes’ RN staffing hours reported in CMS’s PBJ were supported in accordance with Federal requirements. On the basis of our sample results, we estimated for our sampling frame that for March 2024 nursing homes …

iQIES will Implement an Inactive User Policy

To: iQIES Users, CMS Staff Inactive iQIES User Accounts CMS security policy requires iQIES to deactivate user roles for inactive accounts. To meet this requirement, iQIES will apply an inactive user policy beginning this month. This policy helps CMS keep the system safe and secure. How the Policy Works You …

FY 2027 ICD-10-CM Codes and Coding Guidelines Effective Oct. 1, 2026

The October 1, 2026 diagnosis code update files are now available.  Use these files for discharges occurring from October 1, 2026 – September 30, 2027 and for patient encounters occurring from October 1, 2026 – September 30, 2027. The 2027 ICD-10-CM & PCS files section below contains information on the …

Out-of-the-Box Ways to Appreciate Nursing Staff on a Budget

Listen to this article Your browser does not support the audio element. Showing appreciation for nursing staff doesn’t have to be defined by the size of an organization’s budget. What’s important is the thoughtfulness behind the recognition. In a profession characterized by long shifts, emotional demands, and constant change, meaningful …

Practice Makes Perfect: Get Nursing Staff Locked in for Positive Surveyor Interactions

Resident care observations and staff interviews are both core components of the long-term care survey process, so surveyors have multiple opportunities to interact with all levels of nursing staff, says Denise Winzeler, BSN, RN, LNHA, DNS-MT, QCP-MT, NHA-MT, director of education and certification strategy for AAPACN. “Teaching staff the survey …

Beyond the Behavior: Understanding and Managing Challenging Behaviors in Nursing Homes

Listen to this article Your browser does not support the audio element. A newly admitted resident with dementia exhibits some challenging behaviors: exit seeking, refusing care, and lashing out at caregivers when approached. Helping this resident has become so problematic that some staff suggested sending him to the hospital for …