Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Works to Reinstate Deemed Status

Recent news has shared that the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center has lost its “Deemed Status.”

Here are some facts regarding what this means for the community.

• The Cheyenne Regional Medical Center is still caring for Medicare/Medicaid patients and is still being reimbursed for providing that care.
• Day to day operations of the hospital have not changed.
• The hospital expects to have its “deemed status” reinstated in the near future. Next steps: the Wyoming Department of Health does their follow-up survey to validate the Hospital’s action plan is in place and working, as well as makes its report to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
• The loss of the “deemed status” in no way related to the quality of care provided at the hospital. In fact, it was related to discharge planning for one patient.

What is “Deemed Status”?

• When a hospital has deemed status, it means that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has designated (or deemed) that a third party – like the Joint Commission – can validate the quality of care delivery at that facility.
• When a complaint has been made and “substantiated,” a hospital may be found to be “substantially out of compliance” with a CMS condition of participation and lose its deemed status.
• The investigation into the complaint at CRMC was made by a Wyoming Deptartment of Health (WDOH) surveyor acting on behalf of CMS. CMS determined from the report submitted by the WDOH that CRMC was substantially out of compliance with a condition of participation related to discharge planning and therefore has lost its deemed status with CMS.
• Due to CRMC’s loss of deemed status, the WDOH is now providing oversight of CRMC.