CMS Hospital CoPs on Patient Rights Standards 2026
Date: 3/17/26
9:00 – 10:30 a.m. Central time
Audience:
Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer, Compliance Officer, Emergency Department Personnel, Joint Commission Coordinator, Medical Records, Quality Improvement personnel, Risk Manager, Legal Counsel.
Overview:
Any hospital that accepts Medicare reimbursement must comply with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Conditions of Participation (CoPs). The patient rights section of the CMS CoPs manual has the highest number of deficiencies for hospitals.
The information from this webinar applies to all hospitals, Acute or Critical Access, and will cover the CoPs Appendix A section on patient rights. The regulations for Critical Access Hospitals were added late in 2025 and are not yet part of Appendix W.
This session will address grievances, the right to receive notice of patient rights, exercise of rights, informed consent, privacy, confidentiality of medical records, safety, advance directives, interpreters, abuse and neglect, plan of care, visitation rules, and support person rights.
Learning Objectives:
– Explain that the CMS regulations regarding grievances includes the requirement to have a grievance committee.
– Describe the CMS has requirements for advance directives.
– Discuss the CMS requirement for providing patients and/or their representatives information on patient rights.
– Recall the various requirements for when a patient is placed into restraints and/or seclusion.
Speaker:
Laura A. Dixon served as the director of risk management and patient safety for the Colorado Region of Kaiser Permanente. Prior to joining Kaiser, she served as the director, facility patient safety and risk management and operations for COPIC from 2014 to 2020. In her role, she provided patient safety and risk management consultation and training to facilities, practitioners, and staff in multiple states. Dixon has more than 20 years of clinical experience in acute care facilities, including critical care, coronary care, peri-operative services, and pain management. Prior to joining COPIC, she served as the director, Western region, patient safety and risk management for The Doctors Company in Napa, California. In this capacity, she provided patient safety and risk management consultation to the physicians and staff for the western United States As a registered nurse and attorney, Dixon holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Regis University, RECEP of Denver, a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Drake University College of Law, Des Moines, Iowa, and a Registered Nurse Diploma from Saint Luke’s School Professional Nursing, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She is licensed to practice law in Colorado and California.
This speaker has no real or perceived conflicts of interest that relate to this presentation.
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