Last year’s government shutdown continues to impact survey inspection operations for skilled nursing facilities, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’s (CMS) Quality, Safety & Oversight Group and Survey & Operations Group saying this week it would reduce goals around some survey and certifications standards by 20 percent.

“CMS is adjusting the evaluation of several Fiscal Year 2026 [FY26] SPSS [State Performance Standard System] measures to ensure fairness to State Survey Agencies. CMS approximates that 20 percent of FY26 was impacted by the shutdown when considering the length of the shutdown plus the time needed to resume full, normal operations after the shutdown ended,” the memo said.

CMS said measures directly impacted by shutdown guidance (refer to QSO-26-01-ALL Revised) limiting SAs’ [state survey agencies] ability to conduct certain survey and certification work will have an exception applied commensurate with the approximate time period affected, approximately 20 percent of the fiscal year.

“These exceptions will only be applied FY26 and will not carry over into future years,” the memo said.

The SPSS includes nine measures across three domains for FY26: Survey and Intake Process (measures S1-S8); Survey and Intake Quality (measures Q1-Q4); and Noncompliance Resolution (measure N1).

Get more details by accessing the CMS memo at https://tinyurl.com/4wbbk9az.

Comments or questions? Contact Patrick Connole at pconnole@parkplacelive.com.