How do I interpret the severity of a deficient practice that is cited in a federal recertification survey?
The “scope and severity” of a federal deficiency is assessed based on how egregious the violation was (“A” being minimal and “L” the most severe) and how widespread was the problem in terms of affected residents (i.e., isolated, pattern, or widespread). The scope and severity classification only relates to skilled nursing facilities. The grid below provides a visual display of the scope and severity classification. There are four severity levels. Level 1 (A, B, C) is a deficiency that has the potential for causing no more than a minor negative impact on the resident(s). No actual harm with potential for minimal harm. Level 2 (D, E, F) is noncompliance that results in no more than minimal physical, mental and/or psychosocial discomfort to the resident and/or has the potential (not yet realized) to compromise the resident’s ability to maintain and/or reach his/her highest practicable physical, mental and/or psychosocial well-being as defined by an accurate and comprehensive resident asse
