Waste not, want not: The rest of the CMS Emergency Preparedness picture

Moving on to the rest of the guidance document (it still lives here), I did want to note one last item relative to emergency power: There is an expectation that “as part of the cooperation and collaboration with emergency preparedness officials,” organizations should confer with health department and emergency management officials, as well as healthcare coalitions to “determine the types and duration of energy sources that could be available to assist them in providing care to their patient population. As part of the risk assessment planning, facilities should determine the feasibility of relying on these sources and plan accordingly.

“NOTE: Hospitals, CAHs and LTC facilities are required to base their emergency power and stand-by systems on their emergency plans and risk assessments and including the policies and procedures for hospitals. The determination of the appropriate alternate energy source should be made through the development of the facility’s risk assessment and emergency plan. If these facilities determine that a permanent generator is not required to meet the emergency power and stand-by systems requirements for this emergency preparedness regulation, then §§482.15(e)(1) and (2), §483.73(e)(1) and (2),

• 485.625(e)(1) and (2), would not apply. However, these facility types must continue to meet the existing emergency power provisions and requirements for their provider/supplier types under physical environment CoPs or any existing LSC guidance.”

“If a Hospital, CAH or LTC facility determines that the use of a portable and mobile generator would be the best way to accommodate for additional electrical loads necessary to meet subsistence needs required by emergency preparedness plans, policies and procedures, then NFPA requirements on emergency and standby power systems such as generator installation, location, inspection and testing, and fuel would not be applicable to the portable generator and associated distribution system, except for NFPA 70 – National Electrical Code.”

I think it is very clear that hospitals, et al., are going to be able to plot their own course relative to providing power during emergency conditions, but what’s not so clear is to what depth surveyors will be looking for you to “take” the risk assessment. I suspect that most folks would run with their permanently installed emergency generators and call it a day, but as healthcare organizations become healthcare networks become healthcare systems, the degree of complexity is going to drive some level of flexibility that can’t always be attained using fixed generator equipment. If anyone has any stories to share on this front (either recent or future), I hope you’re inclined to share (and you can reach out directly to me and I will anonymize your story, if you like).

Wrapping up the rest of the changes/additions, you’ll be pleased to hear that you are not required to provide on-site treatment of sewage or waste, but you need to have provisions for maintaining “necessary services.” Of course, the memo indicates that they are not specifying what “necessary services for sewage or waste management” might be, so a little self-definition would appear to be in order.

If your organization has a home health agency, then you need to make sure that the communication plan includes all the following: (1) Names and contact information for the following: (i) Staff. (ii) Entities providing services under arrangement. (iii) Patients’ physicians. (iv) Volunteers. I think that one’s pretty self-evident but may be worth a little verification.

Next up are some thoughts about providing education to folks working as contracted staff who provide services in multiple surrounding areas; the guidance indicates that it may not be feasible for these folks to receive formal training for each of the facilities emergency response plan/program. The expectation is that each individual (and this applies equally to everyone else in the mix) knows the emergency response program and their role during emergencies, but each organization can determine how that happens, including what constitutes appropriate evidence that the training was completed. Additionally, if a surveyor asks one of these folks what their role is during a disaster, then the expectation would be for them to be able to describe the plan and their role(s). No big surprise there (I suspect that validating the competency of point-of-care/service staff is going to be playing a greater role in the survey process—how many folks would they have to ask before somebody “fumbles”?)

The last item relates to the use of real emergency response events in place of the required exercises; I would have thought that this was (relatively) self-evident, but I guess there were enough questions from the field for them to specify that you can indeed use a real event in place of an exercise. Just make sure you have the documentation in order (I know I didn’t “have” to say that, but I figure if it’s important enough for CMS to say it, then who am I…). The timing would be one year from the actual response activation, so make sure you keep a close eye on those calendars (unless, of course, you have numerous real-life opportunities…).

I do think the overarching sense of this is positive, at least in terms of limiting the prescriptive elements. As is sometimes the case, the “responsibility” falls to each organization to be prepared to educate the surveyors as to what preparedness looks like—it has many similar components, but how things integrate can have great variability. Don’t be afraid to do a little hand-holding if the surveyors are looking for something to be done a certain or to look a certain way. You know what works best in your “house,” better than any surveyor!

About the Author: Steve MacArthur is a safety consultant with The Greeley Company in Danvers, Mass. He brings more than 30 years of healthcare management and consulting experience to his work with hospitals, physician offices, and ambulatory care facilities across the country. He is also a contributing editor for Healthcare Safety Leader. Contact Steve at stevemacsafetyspace@gmail.com.