LTC Regulations

At one time, it was said that the only industry that was more regulated than LTC was nuclear power plants! I'm not sure if that is still true, but we are very heavily regulated!

When it comes to food service, there are many sets of regulations that must be followed. The federal government, through CMS, has its set of regulations. These are in the State Operations Manual (SOM). The link for the latest version, October 2010, is http://www.cms.gov/transmittals/downloads/R66SOMA.pdf.

In addition, state long-term care regulations must also be followed. If there is a discrepancy, follow the most stringent.

Although not always enforced by state long-term care surveyors, another set of regulations that also need to be followed are state food service regulations, often call the state food code. Depending upon the city or county where a facility is located, there may be county and/or city regulations that must be followed. Again, follow whatever regulation is most stringent.

The FDA Food Code contains recommendations, not regulations. However, most regulations, including the SOM, are based on the FDA Food Code.

The FDA Food Code is an excellent reference. It can help greatly in developing your policies for those gray areas that the regulations do not address. If a surveyor questions what you are doing, and it is is not spelled out in detail in any regulation, if you can show in the FDA Food Code that what your are doing is acceptable, it is difficult for a surveyor to cite you.

If anyone wants o share survey stories, please do! Everyone is always interested in specifics!