CMS COMPLIANCE: Emergency Preparedness

The first step in emergency preparedness is to assess the risks that your community and your facility face. This process involves several people from your facility discussing the specific threats you face, including natural disasters, technological emergencies, and malicious attacks. Not only do you need to know what can happen, but also what problems they can cause: structural damage, power outage, access problems, supply shortages, etc.

This, in turn, determines the capabilities you must develop and strengthen as part of your emergency plan (i.e., the ability to continue serving patients even without commercial power; the ability to evacuate to a safer location; the ability to shelter in place for an extended period, etc.)

Your Crisis Team provides an online tutorial and booklet to guide you through the process. We also connect you with local resources who may have already identified the risks in your community.

Your facility is required to participate in two exercises each year.

One of these required exercises can be a tabletop exercise. A tabletop exercise is a low-stress exercise, designed to test plans, policies, and procedures. We can conduct a tabletop exercise for you, in person or online. During a tabletop exercise, we will present to you a scenario. You will get a chance to talk about your plans, review them, and see how your plans would allow you to manage the situation we describe. Our role is to design the exercise (including all HSEEP documentation), facilitate the discussion, and then evaluate your ability to meet the emergency preparedness capabilities that CMS requires.

You will receive an “After-Action Report/Improvement Plan” which will summarize the exercise, your actions, and identify strengths as well as areas of improvement.

This exercise is designed and monitored by a US Department of Homeland Security certified “Master Exercise Practitioner.” This is the highest possible certification for anyone conducting readiness exercises in the U.S.