OIG Contends Nursing Homes Lack Adequate, Reliable Emergency Power Systems
A
report released on April 29 from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) contends that most nursing homes in the United States do not have adequate or reliable sources of emergency power. This conclusion was based on a review of 100 sampled nursing homes at which OIG interviewed nursing home officials, reviewed emergency power system records, and completed site visits. From this audit, OIG determined that 72 of 100 nursing homes were noncompliant with federal requirements. A total of 119 deficiencies were identified through this audit to include inadequate maintenance of generators, inadequate circuit coverage, and generators that were out of date, quantified as aged 40 years or more. From these results, OIG estimates that 73% of all nursing homes in the United States have inadequate or unreliable emergency power systems. Specifically, OIG estimates that 53% demonstrate inadequate generator maintenance, 39% have generators with inadequate circuit coverage, and 10% have generators 40 years of age or older. OIG recommended that CMS share results of this audit with nursing homes and emphasize the importance of having adequate and reliable emergency power systems.
CMS Clarifies How to Fix Death Date Errors in Medicare Records.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) acknowledges that Medicare records can incorrectly show that a patient has died, or the records list the wrong date of death. To help providers correct these errors and avoid unpaid claims until corrections are summitted, CMS has developed a
Fact Sheet to understand where these errors come from and how to fix incorrect dates of death.
SNF QRP Data Submission Deadline: May 18.
The data submission deadline for the Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) is May 18. Minimum Data Set (MDS) assessment data and data submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) for Oct 1 – Dec 31 (Q4) of the calendar year (CY) 2025 are due with this submission deadline. The annual NHSN Influenza Vaccination among Healthcare Personnel measure is also due with this deadline. All data must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. on May 18, 2026. The list of measures required by this deadline can be found
here. Once data has been submitted, providers should run the applicable reports in iQIES to ensure data appears as intended. No corrections to data will be accepted after this deadline.
Nursing Home Salary and Benefits Study—Deadline extended to June 1st:
Participation is now open for the salary and benefits study conducted by Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service (HCS) in cooperation with LeadingAge. The national study provides essential data on compensation and benefits in long-term care facilities. The
Nursing Home Salary & Benefits study questionnaire must be completed by June 1st. There is no cost to participate and participation allows you to purchase the study when published at a lower rate.
For any questions or deadline extension requests, please contact Rich Cioffe at
rjcioffe@hhcsinc.com, (201) 405-0075, ext. 10.
Study Overview:
- Deadline for data submission: May 11th –
Extended to June 1st!
- Report published July 2026
- LeadingAge member participant discount--pre-paid rate $190; billed rate $210
- To participate, download the questionnaire at
www.hhcsinc.com.
A separate
CCRC Salary & Benefits study is also underway, deadline April 20th, with publication in June.
