Emergency Preparedness Plan Requirements for Home Health and Hospice

Emergencies—whether natural disasters, pandemics, or local infrastructure failures—can disrupt healthcare services and put vulnerable patients at risk. For home health and hospice providers, ensuring continuity of care is not only an ethical responsibility but also a regulatory requirement. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) established the Emergency Preparedness Conditions of Participation (CoPs) to ensure agencies are prepared to safeguard patients, staff, and operations when disasters strike.

At SummitRidge, we help agencies navigate these requirements and build robust, survey-ready emergency preparedness plans. Our consulting expertise and intellectual property resources provide agencies with tools that are compliant, practical, and tailored to their operations.

CMS Conditions of Participation: Emergency Preparedness

Under 42 CFR §484.102 for Home Health and §418.113 for Hospice, agencies must implement a comprehensive program covering four core elements:

1. Risk Assessment and Planning

Agencies must conduct an all-hazards risk assessment using a community-based approach. This includes evaluating:

• Geographic risks (hurricanes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes)

• Public health risks (pandemics, infectious disease outbreaks)

• Infrastructure risks (power outages, water shortages, cyberattacks)

• Facility-specific vulnerabilities

The plan should prioritize patient safety, continuity of critical services, and coordination with local emergency management systems.

2. Policies and Procedures

Based on the risk assessment, agencies are required to develop and maintain written policies and procedures that address:

• Patient tracking and communication during emergencies

• Safe evacuation, shelter-in-place, and relocation of patients

• Continuity of medications, equipment, and supplies

• Preservation of medical records and confidentiality

• Coordination with other healthcare providers and emergency responders

Policies must be updated annually and accessible to staff at all times.

3. Communication Plan

Communication is critical during an emergency. Agencies must establish a plan that ensures:

• Contact information for patients, staff, physicians, suppliers, and emergency management agencies

• Communication systems that remain functional when normal operations fail (e.g., satellite phones, radios)

• Procedures for sharing patient information and status updates with other facilities and state/local authorities

• Methods for staff accountability and rapid notification

This element must be tested regularly to verify reliability.

4. Training and Testing Program

To ensure readiness, agencies must provide initial and ongoing training to all staff on emergency policies and procedures. Requirements include:

• Annual training for staff and volunteers

• Two annual testing exercises, such as:

  • A full-scale community-based exercise (if available) OR an individual facility-based drill

  • A second exercise, which may be a tabletop or workshop-style drill

Documentation of training and testing is essential for survey compliance.

Why Compliance Matters

Failure to meet the Emergency Preparedness CoPs can result in survey deficiencies, penalties, or even jeopardized CMS certification. More importantly, noncompliance places patients—many of whom are frail, elderly, or dependent on life-sustaining services—at serious risk during crises.

By developing a well-structured, actionable plan, agencies not only remain compliant but also strengthen trust with patients, families, and communities.

How SummitRidge Can Help

Emergency preparedness can feel overwhelming, especially when balancing patient care and regulatory demands. SummitRidge offers specialized consulting and intellectual property resources to streamline compliance and strengthen resilience. We provide:

• Customized Risk Assessments tailored to your region and patient population

• Policy and Procedure Development aligned with CMS standards and best practices

• Training Modules and Templates for staff education and survey readiness

• Mock Survey and Readiness Reviews to identify gaps before CMS inspectors arrive

• Communication Tools and Checklists designed for real-world usability

With SummitRidge's guidance, agencies gain not only compliance but also confidence in their ability to protect patients when it matters most.

Emergencies are unpredictable, but preparedness doesn’t have to be. By meeting CMS’s Conditions of Participation for emergency preparedness, home health and hospice agencies ensure continuity of care and safeguard the well-being of their patients and staff.

If your organization needs support in building or refining its emergency preparedness plan, SummitRidge is here to help. Our consulting expertise and intellectual property resources are designed to help you meet every requirement with clarity and confidence.

Contact SummitRidge today to strengthen your agency’s preparedness and achieve peace of mind—because in healthcare, readiness saves lives.