CMS cleans up guidelines on laundry and infection control

New clarifications to the laundry regulations for nursing facilities will update the guidelines to include the roles of the latest cleaning agents and cleaning technologies in infection prevention.

The revised guidelines, released last week by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), fall within F tag 441. The revisions add notes on bleach-based and antimicrobial cleaning agents, water temperatures, and laundry policies and procedures.

In the release, CMS also deems that ozone cleaning systems are acceptable alternatives to traditional laundering, including through the use of an ozone cleaning service provider—as long as the service provider can guarantee the laundry will remain hygienic during transport back to the nursing facility.

Learn more by reading the revision of Appendix PP—Interpretive Guidelines for Long-Term Care Facilities F tag 411 Infection Control.

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.