1) The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) informed providers about an electronic procedure for submitting documents following a visit from a surveyor and the finding of a deficiency or violation. From the letter (dated July 31):
Question: Does sending the Statement of Deficiencies form (CMS-2567) or Statement of Violations form (DADS-3724) with the Plan of Correction (PoC) by electronic mail (e-mail) satisfy the State Operations Manual (SOM) requirement and state requirement to send/mail the completed PoC to the survey office?
Answer: Yes, and the same timeframes apply to electronic transmission as apply to regular mail or fax. However, providers should be sure to get confirmation that the documents (3724 and/or 2567) were received by requesting and printing out a copy of a “read receipt” or other return e-mail which clearly shows that the intended individual received the sender’s e-mail.
You may download the letter here.
2) DADS issued an addendum to Provider Letter 06-24, which stated that all nursing facilities are required to electronically submit MDS assessments on private-pay residents.
The addendum was issued to help providers simplify the process of initial submissions. You may download the letter (dated July 31) here.
