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How Housekeeping Standardization Strengthens Survey Readiness<p><strong class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-2-0">​ADVERTORIAL</strong></p><p style="text-align&#58;center;"><img src="/Articles/PublishingImages/2026/staples_Healthcare_SupplyCloset_3882.jpg" alt="" style="margin&#58;5px;width&#58;500px;height&#58;333px;" />&#160;</p><p>For long term care and senior living providers, regulatory expectations continue to intensify. Infection prevention standards are more prescriptive, environmental services practices receive heightened scrutiny, and surveyors increasingly assess whether processes are executed consistently across units, shifts, and facilities.</p><p>Amid staffing shortages and rising costs, many organizations struggle to maintain that consistency. One often overlooked factor is how housekeeping and environmental services (EVS) supplies are selected, managed, and used.</p><p>Housekeeping standardization offers a practical way to strengthen survey readiness. By aligning products, purchasing, and workflows across facilities, operators can reduce variation, support staff training, and create more defensible, repeatable practices during survey.</p><h3>Why Variation Creates Compliance Risk</h3><p>Surveyors not only assess whether appropriate supplies are available, but whether staff consistently understand how and when to use them. When multiple brands, formats, or SKUs are in circulation, training becomes more complicated and execution less reliable.</p><p>“When staff know exactly what to use and how to use it, execution becomes more consistent and errors decline,” says Greg Hemmer, a health care facilities solutions expert with Staples Business.</p><p>From a regulatory perspective, standardization reduces the likelihood of improper product use, dilution errors, or substitution during supply shortages. It also supports clearer documentation and consistent protocols, both of which can be critical during survey review.<br></p><h3>Gaining Visibility Across Facilities</h3><p>Another regulatory challenge for multi-site operators is limited visibility into purchasing practices. Without centralized oversight, leadership may struggle to confirm whether approved products are being used or if individual facilities are introducing unapproved alternatives.</p><p>That was the case for Claiborne Senior Living, which owns and operates 17 senior living communities across the Southeast. Each property had historically purchased its own housekeeping and environmental services supplies from various vendors.</p><p>“We needed a clearer picture of what each community was spending and what they were actually buying,” says Molly Crawford, asset manager for Claiborne Senior Living. “Not just from a cost standpoint, but for consistency.”</p><p>Working through its group purchasing organization, HPSI Purchasing Services, Claiborne explored opportunities to standardize purchasing across facilities. Certain vendor partners, including Staples, were identified as resources that could support consistent product selection, site-level quantities, and consolidated reporting.<br></p><h3>Aligning Supplies with Regulatory Expectations</h3><p>Like many long term care leaders, Crawford initially associated Staples primarily with office supplies. What she learned was that Staples supports health care providers across categories including housekeeping, dispensers, furniture, technology, and print, and maintains relationships with major GPOs serving the sector.</p><p>Staples analyzed Claiborne’s historical purchasing data and identified opportunities to reduce variation, consolidate SKUs, and align products across communities. The immediate financial impact was clear.</p><p>“It was an automatic 17 percent savings,” Crawford says. “Across 17 buildings, that’s significant. Small costs really do add up.”</p><p>Equally important, leadership gained confidence that every community had access to the same approved products, helping reduce compliance risk when surveyors assess practices across locations or revisit findings.<br></p><h3>Ensuring Availability Without Disruption</h3><p>Standardization must be paired with reliable access to supplies. Delays or substitutions can disrupt care and undermine compliance, particularly during peak demand or severe weather events.</p><p>“Timing is critical,” Crawford says. “Our business doesn’t stop. We can’t wait days for critical supplies.”</p><p>To minimize risk, Claiborne piloted standardized products at one community before expanding systemwide. The gradual rollout gave teams time to validate product performance, confirm staff adoption, and ensure delivery timelines aligned with operational needs.</p><p>Over time, Claiborne standardized key environmental services components, including towel, tissue, and soap dispensers, as well as gloves, trash liners, wipes, microfiber cloths, and other housekeeping essentials. Using fewer brands and consistent SKUs reduced substitution risk and simplified oversight.<br></p><h3>Simplifying Training and Reinforcing Execution</h3><p>One of the most tangible compliance benefits of standardization has been its effect on staff training. When products are consistent, onboarding becomes less complex, and procedures can be reinforced uniformly across communities.</p><p>“When we implement change, we focus on sustainability,” Crawford says. “Success isn’t tied to any one person. Standardization creates consistency and makes training easier across our communities.”</p><p>This consistency helps staff confidently explain processes during survey, supports more uniform execution across shifts, and reduces variation that could otherwise prompt surveyor concern.<br></p><h3>Reducing Administrative Burden on On-Site Leaders</h3><p>Before standardization, on-site leaders spent time researching products, comparing prices, managing vendors, and reconciling invoices, time that could be spent supporting staff or maintaining regulatory readiness.</p><p>“That’s the hidden labor cost,” Hemmer explains. “Time spent scouring the internet for products instead of focusing on the community.”</p><p>By consolidating purchasing on a single platform, Claiborne reduced administrative tasks for department heads and simplified budgeting. Managers no longer needed to make product decisions or manage multiple suppliers.</p><p>“All they have to worry about is staying within their budget,” Crawford says.<br></p><h3>Building a More Survey-Resilient Organization</h3><p>Today, Claiborne has clearer visibility into spending, product usage, and cash flow across all 17 communities. That visibility helps leadership identify risks, reinforce standard practices, and plan with greater confidence.</p><p>“Because we know our average spend and manage it consistently,” Crawford says, “we’re better able to spot inefficiencies, reduce risk, and make informed decisions as we grow.”</p><p>For long term care providers navigating evolving regulatory expectations, housekeeping standardization is not simply an efficiency initiative. It is a foundational strategy that supports infection prevention, staff execution, training, and survey readiness, while also reducing complexity and controlling costs.<br><br>To learn more about how standardized purchasing supports regulatory readiness and operational consistency in senior living and long term care, contact Greg Hemmer at <a href="mailto&#58;Gregory.Hemmer@Staples.com" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="60b7cbf17788425491b2d083" target="_blank" title="email Greg">Gregory.Hemmer@Staples.com</a> or visit <a href="https&#58;//www.staplesadvantage.com/learn/industries-served/healthcare/senior-living?cid=bnr&#58;tp&#58;tp&#58;sb&#58;mf&#58;t&#58;sl&#58;cc&#58;na&#58;sl&#58;na&#58;na&#58;ahca&#58;ca&amp;utc=LFKYXG" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="60b7cbf17788425491b2d083" target="_blank">staplesbusiness.com/seniorliving</a>.<br><br></p><p><span style="font-family&#58;aptos, sans-serif;font-size&#58;14.6667px;color&#58;#212121;">Provider<span class="Apple-converted-space">&#160;</span><em>magazine&#160;includes information from a variety of sources, such as contributing experts. The views expressed by external contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of<span class="Apple-converted-space">&#160;</span></em>Provider<em>&#160;magazine and AHCA/NCAL.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&#160;</span></em></span><span style="font-family&#58;aptos, sans-serif;font-size&#58;14.6667px;color&#58;#96607d;"><a href="/About/Pages/Submit-Article.aspx" title="Submit an article" data-outlook-id="badae440-b0ce-4219-9c08-f7e349a8e3d6" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="60b7cbf17788425491b2d083" target="_blank" style="color&#58;#96607d;margin-top&#58;0px;margin-bottom&#58;0px;"><em><span style="text-decoration&#58;underline;">Learn how to submit an article.</span></em></a></span><br></p>2026-05-12T04:00:00Z<img alt="" src="/Articles/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/staples_supply.jpg" style="BORDER&#58;0px solid;" />Management;Survey and CertificationHousekeeping standardization offers a practical way to strengthen survey readiness. By aligning products, purchasing, and workflows across facilities, operators can reduce variation, support staff training, and create more defensible, repeatable practices during survey.
Top 10 Provider Resources of 2024<p>​​A roundup of all the top 2024&#160;resources featured in <em>Provider Magazine</em> and on the website. ​​<img src="/Articles/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/nurses.jpg" class="ms-rtePosition-2" alt="" style="margin&#58;5px;width&#58;250px;" /><br></p><p>1.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="/Articles/Pages/Deficiencies-at-F699-Emerging-Trends-in-the-Enforcement-of-New-Regulations.aspx" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="60b7cbf17788425491b2d083"> <strong>Deficiencies at F699&#58; Emerging Trends in the Enforcement of New Regulations</strong></a> (article--2/13/2024)</p><p>One of the major changes in the revised regulations included tags for which many skilled nursing facilities were not adequately prepared to address, specifically F699, which addresses the provision of “trauma-informed care.&quot;</p><p> <br> </p><p>2.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="/Video-Resources/Podcasts/Pages/Government-Relations-and-Advocacy-in-Long-Term-Care.aspx" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="60b7cbf17788425491b2d083"> <strong>Government Relations and Advocacy in Long Term Care</strong></a> (podcast--12/19/2024)</p><p>Bassett shares insights on key issues, including the impact of Trump's administration on the long term care industry, staffing mandates, and quality improvement initiatives.&#160;</p><p> <br> </p><p>3.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="/Video-Resources/ProviderTV/Pages/A-Playbook-on-Succeeding-in-Long-Term-Care-with-Mark-Parkinson.aspx" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="60b7cbf17788425491b2d083"> <strong>A Playbook on Succeeding in Long Term Care with Mark Parkinson</strong></a> (video--12/19/2024)</p><p>A new book offers long term care professionals a blueprint on how to thrive in every facet of caring for our nation's seniors.</p><p> <br> </p><p>4.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="/Video-Resources/ProviderTV/Pages/Purpose-built-Technology-Supports-Care-Outcomes-with-Viventium.aspx" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="60b7cbf17788425491b2d083"> <strong>Purpose-built Technology Supports Care Outcomes with Viventium</strong></a><strong> </strong>(video--12/12/2024)</p><p>Technology should support care providers delivering the highest quality of care, not take up valuable time. Gupta and Glauber from Viventium explain how software purpose-built for long term care can make a big difference.&#160;<br></p><p> <br> </p><p>5.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="/Articles/Pages/Delving-into-Data-Steps-to-Make-Sense-of-It-All.aspx" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="60b7cbf17788425491b2d083"> <strong>Delving into Data&#58; Steps to Make Sense of It All</strong></a> (article--12/17/2024)</p><p>Data can support decisions about the nursing department by revealing current situations, trends, and predictions, along with potential risks. Data can also offer insight into the cause of an issue.</p><p> <br> </p><p>6.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="/Articles/Pages/4-Tips-to-Improve-Section-GG-Coding-Accuracy.aspx" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="60b7cbf17788425491b2d083"> <strong>4 Tips to Improve Section GG Coding Accuracy</strong></a> (article--1/09/2024)</p><p>The four tips described here will help facility teams develop a process to ensure the accuracy of section GG items.</p><p> <strong><br></strong></p><p>7.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="/Issues/2024/Summer/Pages/Top-High-Tech-Trends-in-Long-Term-Care.aspx" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="60b7cbf17788425491b2d083"> <strong>Top High-Tech Trends in Long Term Care</strong></a> (article--6/1/2024)</p><p>New technology in long term care is exciting and promises to deliver many new functionalities as long as the purchase and implementation work for the facility, providers, and residents.</p><p> <br> </p><p>8.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="/Marketplace/Pages/Using-Technology-for-Improved-Outcomes-in-Senior-Living%20Medication-Management.aspx" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="60b7cbf17788425491b2d083"> <strong>Using Technology for Improved Outcomes in Senior Living</strong><strong>
</strong><strong>Medication Management</strong></a> (article--11/07/2024)</p><p>Learn how effective medication management technology reduces risks, improves resident outcomes, and prevents staff burnout in senior living communities.</p><p> <br> </p><p>9.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="/Articles/Pages/Why-Directors-of-Nursing-Need-a-Mentor.aspx" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="60b7cbf17788425491b2d083"> <strong>Why Directors of Nursing Need a Mentor</strong></a> (article--6/11/2024)</p><p>When a nurse reaches the level of director of nursing (DON), the perspective changes, and sometimes not in the most comfortable of ways. You are being looked at as the person with the answers, but who is there to help you when you have a question?&#160;</p><p> <br> </p><p>10.&#160; <a href="/Articles/Pages/Deficiencies-at-F742-Emerging-Trends-in-the-Enforcement-of-New-Regulations.aspx" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="60b7cbf17788425491b2d083"> <strong>Deficiencies at F742&#58; Emerging Trends in the Enforcement of New Regulations</strong></a> (article--2/15/2024)</p><p>Vicarious learning is useful when it comes to survey deficiencies—that is, learning about the reasons for deficiencies in other facilities enables us to examine the practices, polices, and procedures in our own facility.​<br></p><p>​​</p>2024-12-23T05:00:00Z<img alt="" src="/Articles/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/nurses.jpg" style="BORDER&#58;0px solid;" />Management;Survey and Certification​​A roundup of all the top 2024 resources featured in Provider Magazine and on the website. ​​
Deficiency-Free Complaint Surveys<p>State agencies survey skilled nursing centers to ensure they are meeting state and federal standards for quality and staffing set by the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS). These survey agencies respond to all reported complaints by residents, families, and facilities (i.e., self-reported incidents) through complaint surveys. </p><p><a href="/Issues/2024/Documents/By%20The%20Numbers.pdf" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="60b7cbf17788425491b2d083" target="_blank"><img class="ms-asset-icon ms-rtePosition-4" src="/_layouts/images/icpdf.png" alt="" />By The Numbers.pdf</a><br></p>2024-03-11T04:00:00Z<img alt="" src="/Issues/2024/Spring/PublishingImages/PrvSpr24_BTN.jpg" style="BORDER&#58;0px solid;" />Survey and CertificationA deficiency-free complaint survey means that a facility is being operated in absolute compliance with state and federal regulations.
Don’t Fear the Survey: 3 Tips for Using Survey Data to Your Advantage<p><img src="/Articles/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/survey.jpg" class="ms-rtePosition-2" alt="" style="margin&#58;5px;width&#58;200px;height&#58;200px;" />​The state surveyors just exited your building, and you can hear the collective sigh of relief from your team. Post-survey can be a stressful time when your teams are prioritizing corrections and regaining compliance. Don't miss the opportunity to improve long term business performance and quality improvement with key insights from the data collected during the survey.</p><p>In today’s competitive and ever-increasingly data-driven marketplace, understanding how to use survey data to your advantage is key for successful outcomes. Beyond just creating and executing a plan of correction for survey deficiencies to get back in compliance, key insights can be gained from survey data on an ongoing basis for many different stakeholders to use in improving both quality of care and business performance.&#160;</p><p>The frequency of surveys and prevalence of deficiencies have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic in many states. The silver lining is that there is also an increase in data that your corporate leaders can use to identify operational issues and regulatory trends across your organization. By utilizing survey data effectively, operators can develop better audit tools and process improvements. However, accomplishing this is easier said than done.&#160; </p><h3>Using Data to Your Advantage</h3><p>Here are three ways in which you can use data to your advantage.<br><strong>1.&#160;&#160; &#160;Scale improvement efforts.</strong><br>If the data shows that there are repeat deficiencies in one region or across the organization, you have an opportunity to use the data to create systemic change. Quantifying repeat deficiencies at the regional or organizational level informs the improvement and modification of policies, procedures, onboarding, and training. You don’t know the greater problem exists without analyzing the data first. </p><p><strong>2.&#160;&#160; &#160;Incentivize leaders.</strong><br>Comparing survey performance against company and market peers can be used to incentivize leaders and drive competitive performance improvement. When hiring new executive directors and resident care directors, using a tool that aggregates national seniors housing survey outcomes, providers can vet and explore leaders’ prior survey outcomes at facilities based on dates of employment to drive interview questions and performance validation. For existing community leaders, operators can use survey data to help evaluate performance over time and identify opportunities for improvement.</p><p><strong>3.&#160;&#160; &#160;Mitigate risk exposure.</strong><br>Identification of adverse survey performance can drive special conditions on loans and develop key metrics for use in loan covenants. To mitigate risk exposure, financial stakeholders should be aware of historical and current survey activity including adverse outcomes, severe citations, high volume of citations, fines, ban on admissions, stacked surveys, open survey timelines, conditional licenses, and failed revisits. Continued adverse survey performance and a lack of ability to achieve and sustain substantial compliance can have a negative impact on financial performance, community reputation, census, and staff retention, and may ultimately warrant considering a change in operator.&#160;</p><p>Analysis of survey data along with other available data, such as staffing and quality measures, can be a valuable tool in underwriting general liability and professional liability insurance coverage. Reviewing these key areas during the underwriting process identifies if the facility has received citations that resulted in actual harm or immediate jeopardy to resident’s health or safety.&#160; Citations at these levels have a higher potential for leading to legal action against a facility, but when there is the ability to further assess staffing levels and quality outcomes it provides context as to the overall risk exposure and potential defensibility of a facility when setting premiums and policy limits.</p><h3>Technology Makes Data Analysis Easier</h3><p>The stakes are high for lenders, investors, and insurers to ensure protection of facility licenses from risk exposure related to adverse survey outcomes that can lead to enforcement actions. Finding the right tool to analyze survey data is important.&#160; Not all technology is the same. Here’s what to look for in your analysis tools.</p><p><strong>Does it analyze the entire portfolio?</strong> Tools that enable a complete assessment of survey performance across an entire portfolio are key. Look for tools that allow you to create groups to view data quickly and easily across your organization and conduct comparative reporting for a collection of facilities at both a high-level and detailed perspective.</p><p><strong>Does it allow for benchmarking?</strong> Tools that offer peer and market performance benchmark measures are important. Look for tools that benchmark historical survey, citation, and penalty details.&#160;</p><p>Does it allow you to slice and dice data? Data isn’t helpful if you can’t apply it to your specific needs. Make sure you can export data, use it in comparisons, and dynamically fold it in to other analysis tools.&#160;</p><p><strong>Does it allow for reporting?</strong> If the data is useful and helpful to your community, share it! Flexible technology allows you to report data to referral sources and prospective residents, strengthening those relationships with proof of your positive outcomes.</p><p><strong><img src="/Articles/PublishingImages/2023/MelissaFedun.jpg" class="ms-rtePosition-1" alt="" style="margin&#58;5px;width&#58;135px;" />Does it analyze state-level survey data?</strong> Tools that aggregate and analyze the state survey data of senior housing communities are critical to your success. This is especially important if you operate communities in multiple states because each state’s approach to the licensing and regulation of communities varies. Finding tools to make this data collection and analysis easier is imperative for directly comparing communities across state lines.</p><p>While most leaders and stakeholders are not thrilled when a survey team walks into their building to conduct routine or complaint inspections, top-performing operators are using the outcomes of survey activities to drive understanding and improve performance for their residents, staff, and business. Don’t let the data overwhelm you. Instead, find tools to make data analysis faster and easier to meet your regulatory and operational goals. <br><br><em><img src="/Articles/PublishingImages/2023/KyleGardener.jpg" class="ms-rtePosition-2" alt="" style="margin&#58;5px;width&#58;135px;height&#58;166px;" />Melissa Fedun, RN, BSN, is managing partner and co-owner of Formation Healthcare Group. She is a recognized industry expert providing clinical advisory services to identify risk exposure in investment management focused on seniors housing, post-acute, and healthcare real estate. </em><em><br></em></p><p><em>Kyle Gardner is the chief operating officer of NIC MAP Vision, a source for senior housing supply, demand, and operational data. </em><br></p>2023-10-17T04:00:00Z<img alt="" src="/Articles/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/survey.jpg" style="BORDER&#58;0px solid;" />Survey and CertificationMelissa Fedun and Kyle GardnerDon't miss the opportunity to improve long term business performance and quality improvement with key insights from the data collected during the survey.