Food service is still a visible survey focus

In the August National Survey Preparedness Brief, F0812 appeared for 4,761 active facilities in the 15-month Standard survey window.

That represents 32.41% of all 14,690 active facilities and 43.24% of the 11,010 facilities with a Standard inspection in the window. The percentages use different denominators and answer different questions.

Walk the kitchen, then compare what you saw to the logs.

• Walk storage areas for labeling, dating, separation, cleanliness, and expired items.
• Review refrigerator, freezer, dish machine, and food temperature logs for gaps or late corrections.
• Confirm staff can describe cleaning schedules, sanitizer checks, and food source expectations.
• Check trayline, meal service, nourishment rooms, and resident-specific diet communication.
• Make sure prior kitchen-round findings have documented follow-up and owner signoff.

The CMS Kitchen/Food Service Observation form provides a direct view of the observations used during the kitchen review. CMS also posts current nursing-home Survey Resources and Appendix PP from its Nursing Homes guidance page.

• CMS Kitchen/Food Service Observation Form
• CMS Survey Resources ZIP
• CMS Appendix PP State Operations Manual