On March 24, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a memorandum encouraging participating providers to “seek out and participate in a full-scale, community-based exercise with their local and/or state emergency agencies and health care coalitions and to have completed a tabletop exercise by [November, 2017].”

The memo is intended to assist providers and suppliers with meeting the testing and training requirements of the September 2016 emergency preparedness final rule.

The final rule requires participating providers to plan for natural and man-made disasters, train for disaster preparedness and test emergency plans. The memo clarified that participating providers are expected to meet the requirements of the final rule by November 15, 2017, or face citations for non-compliance.

Facilities that are unable to complete a full-scale emergency preparedness exercise by November 15, 2017 are encouraged to undergo an individual facility-based exercise and document the circumstances as to why a full-scale, community-based exercise was not completed.