2009 CMS Annual Report Shows Reduction in Disparity Rate

The 2009 Annual Financial Report from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to Congress shows an 8 percent decrease in the disparity rate between CMS onsite surveys and surveys performed by The Joint Commission (TJC).

The disparity rate measures the variance between survey findings collected by the two organizations. The reduction, which is the first drop ever reported, is attributed to TJC's recent efforts to align their standards with CMS requirements and improvements to their survey process.

The full CMS Fiscal Year 2009 Financial Report can be found here:
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/CFOReport/Downloads/2009_CMS_Financial_Report.pdf.