The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a Quality, Safety Oversight memorandum this week on mandatory reporting of a hospital death associated with the use of restraints or seclusion. The memorandum states that CMS-10455 form will be moving from a paper version to an electronic form beginning December 2, 2019. Beginning January 1st 2020, the CMS Regional Office (RO) resource mailboxes will no longer accept a paper version of this form. This change affects all types of hospitals (including Psychiatric Hospitals, Rehabilitation Hospitals, Long Term Care Hospitals, Short Term Acute Care Hospitals) and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Rehabilitation and/or Psychiatric Distinct Part Units (DPUs).
Transitioning from a paper format to an electronic form is a more reliable method of report submission, reduces hospital and CAH DPU workload burden and improves the triaging process for the CMS RO survey determinations. Utilizing the electronic submission process streamlines CMS RO decision making and increases oversight of hospitals and CAH DPUs, as well as advances patient healthcare quality and safety due to increased incident data collection. To read the full memorandum and view the instructional video on how to submit the electronic form, click this link.
