CMS issues final rule updating Medicare/Medicaid fire safety standards

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on May 3 issued a final rule adopting the National Fire Protection Association’s 2012 Life Safety Code (LSC) — with minor amendments — and most chapters of its 2012 Health Care Facilities Code (HCFC) for hospitals, critical access hospitals, long-term care facilities, ambulatory surgical centers, inpatient hospice facilities and certain other facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The final rule was published in the May 4 Federal Register and takes effect July 5. The LSC includes general requirements for all new and existing buildings, while the HCFC contains more detailed provisions for health care building systems and equipment. Click here to read more from the American Hospital Association.