This letter from CMS outlines the standards of quality that nursing homes and other healthcare facilities must meet in order to provide quality care to their residents. The letter provides guidance on what constitutes professional standards of quality, such as current manuals or textbooks on nursing, social work, physical therapy, etc., as well as standards published by professional organizations and clinical practice guidelines. It also states that the lack of ongoing clinical assessment and identification of changes in condition should be addressed at certain regulations, and that CMS is aware of situations where practitioners have potentially misdiagnosed residents with a condition for which antipsychotics are an approved use. Nursing homes and healthcare facilities must ensure that their services adhere to accepted standards of quality and that they are using up-to-date references for standards of practice. If a negative resident outcome is determined to be related to the facility’s failure to meet professional standards, the facility should be cited under the appropriate quality of care or other relevant requirement.

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