Surveyors from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) visit, conducted an on-site visit from Sept. 24 to Sept. 27 at University of Missouri Health Care. Following the visit, CMS sent MU Health Care a letter dated Oct. 23, 2012, saying that CMS was removing MU Health Care's deemed status and placing the hospital under the survey jurisdiction of the Missouri survey agency.

The change in deemed status did not affect MU Health Care's accreditation, its Medicare payments or its status as a participating provider of hospital services in the Medicare program. "Deemed status" meant that CMS, instead of the Joint Commission, would be surveying us in the near future.

The CMS also noted that several deficiencies had been found during the survey, and that CMS surveyors would be conducting a follow-up survey in the near future.

MU Health Care sent a letter to the CMS dated Nov. 2, 2012, that included additional documentation related to the alleged deficiencies.

CMS informed us, in a letter dated Nov. 26, that based on this documentation supplied by MU Health Care in our Nov. 2 letter, CMS was no longer planning to conduct a follow-up survey or issue any deficiencies.

Nov. 26 letter from CMS to MU Health Care