Medicare program; granting and withdrawal of deeming authority to national accreditation organizations--HCFA. Final...

This rule implements section 1865(a) of the Social Security Act, as amended by sections 2345 and 2346 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 and section 6019 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989. The amendments expand the types of providers and suppliers of services that we may consider to meet conditions of participation or certification, nursing home requirements, or conditions for coverage by virtue of their accreditation by a national accreditation program; these providers and suppliers are also subject to validation surveys. The rule also extends confidentiality to accreditation surveys, other than home health agency surveys, done by accreditation programs in addition to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, except that we may disclose survey and related information to the extent that such information relates to an enforcement action we take on the basis of accreditation survey findings. The rule also provides for: the release to, and use by, HCFA of all accreditation surveys and other relevant information even if a provider or supplier is not subject to a validation survey; the removing of deemed status of a facility based on a validation survey, an accreditation survey, or other information related to either; and appeal procedures for denied or withdrawn approval.