This letter from CMS outlines the requirements for nursing homes and other healthcare facilities to develop and implement a baseline care plan for each resident within 48 hours of admission. The baseline care plan must include the minimum healthcare information necessary to properly care for a resident, such as initial goals based on admission orders, physician orders, dietary orders, therapy services, social services, and PASARR recommendation if applicable. The facility may choose to develop a comprehensive care plan in place of the baseline care plan, which must still be completed and implemented within 48 hours of admission and meet the requirements set forth in §483.21(b), with the exception of the requirement at (b)(2)(i) requiring the completion of the comprehensive care plan within 7 days of completion of the comprehensive assessment. The facility must provide the resident and their representative with a written summary of the baseline care plan, which must include initial goals for the resident, a list of current medications and dietary instructions, and services and treatments to be administered by the facility. In the event that the comprehensive assessment and comprehensive care plan identified a change in the resident’s goals or functioning, these changes must be incorporated into an updated summary provided to the resident and their representative. Nursing homes and healthcare facilities must take action to ensure that they are meeting these requirements, as failure to do so could result in citations.

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