ASHE: CMS still plans to adopt 2012 Life Safety Code

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) still plan to adopt the 2012 edition of the National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 101, Life Safety Code (LSC), according to a report in the American Society for Healthcare Engineering's ASHE Insider e-newsletter. As reported in last month's issue of Health Facilities Management, CMS recently offered several new waivers to help hospitals take advantage of certain provisions in the 2012 edition of the LSC rather than the 2000 edition currently required. The move prompted some to wonder whether CMS had abandoned its previously stated position of moving toward adoption of the entire 2012 LSC. However, ASHE Director of Codes and Standards Chad Beebe, SASHE, says CMS wants to adopt the 2012 edition but, because the lengthy adoption process is contingent on other priorities, CMS wanted to give hospitals some relief from burdensome requirements in the meantime.

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