T51
Equivalencies and Waivers in Health Care Occupancies -- Navigating the Development and Submission Processes
David Hood, Russell Phillips & Associates
Anne Guglielmo, The Joint Commission

 

Identifying and employing alternate and/or equivalent means of prescriptive code compliance is a particularly important concept and option for health care organizations. However, recent changes driven by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) have affected how alternate compliance options are developed and submitted. This session will provide guidance for developing an equivalency/waiver request. It will also address how to negotiate common pitfalls in the submission process.


Presented by:

David Hood, Russell Phillips & Associates
Dave Hood is a Principal of the firm Russell, Phillips, & Associates and serves as President of the organization. He has been serving the healthcare industry with RPA since 1995. Dave is the Immediate Past Chairman of NFPA's Health Care Section Executive Board. He also sits as a principal member on the NFPA 101 Technical Committee on Healthcare Occupancies. Dave has a degree in Fire Protection Engineering from the University of Maryland and frequently speaks across the country on topics including healthcare life safety, fire safety and emergency management.

Anne Guglielmo, The Joint Commission
Anne Guglielmo is Engineer at The Joint Commission. She provides support for the LS, EC, and EM standards. Ms. Guglielmo joined The Joint Commission in 2010 and has 15 years of experience in Fire Protection Engineering. Prior to joining The Joint Commission, she worked as a Fire Protection Engineer in the Design and Construction Industry. She is a Certified Fire Protection Specialist, a Certified Healthcare Facility Manager, a Certified Healthcare Safety Professional, and a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional. She is a member of NFPA, ASHE, and ICC, and sits on the technical committees for NFPA 80, 101, and 101A. Ms. Guglielmo is also a member of the ASHE membership committee and is a taskforce champion. She received her BS in Civil Engineering, specializing in Fire and Life Safety Engineering, from the Illinois Institute of Technology.