With the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) release updating the restraint use regulations and requirements within the hospital setting, it is a good time to review what is expected within community, hospice, and home care settings. Contained in the Federal Register, Volume 71, No. 236, December 8, 2006, Rules and Regulations, a 52-page document, is this summary statement at the beginning of the document. This final rule finalizes the Patients' Rights Condition of Participation (CoP) which is applicable to all Medicare and Medicaid participating hospitals and contains standards that ensure minimum protections of each patient's physical and emotional health and safety. (Patients' Rights; Final Rule Hospital Conditions of Participation, 2006, p. 71378). This summary statement sets the parameters on which the restraint rulings are founded, and it is evident by this statement that the organization's patient rights and responsibilities should be examined to ensure that proper and current verbiage is present.
