F279: Develop a complete care plan that meets all the resident's needs, with timetables and actions that can be measured
F279 is one of the federal requirements every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home must meet. CMS describes it as: Develop a complete care plan that meets all the resident's needs, with timetables and actions that can be measured.
It sits in CMS's resident assessment and care planning category.
CMS Health Deficiencies file, data as of September 1, 2026. The files hold each home's last three standard inspections and three years of complaint visits.
How seriously inspectors rate it
Every citation gets a letter for how much harm inspectors found and how many residents it touched (how to read the letters). 0.0% of F279 citations came from a complaint visit rather than a routine inspection.
By letter: D 5, E 1.
What inspectors wrote
Three recent F279 citations from different states, quoted from the inspectors' statements of deficiencies (CMS form 2567). Names are removed by CMS.
Inspectors wrote, October 4, 2017, scope and severity DBased on clinical record review, resident interview, and staff interview, the facility staff failed for one of 24 residents in the survey sample (Resident # 17) to develop a plan of care that included non-pharmacological interventions to address pain control for the resident.
Carlin Springs Health & Rehabilitation, Arlington, VA
Inspectors wrote, August 17, 2017, scope and severity DBased on record review and interviews, the facility failed to ensure individualized care plan approaches were developed to address Resident Identifier (RI) #2's need for 3/4 (three quarter) side rails up times two. This affected one of 17 residents for whom care plans were reviewed.
Northside Health Care, Gadsden, AL
Inspectors wrote, May 18, 2017, scope and severity DBased on interview and medical record review, it was determined that the facility staff failed to initiate a nutrition care plan with the appropriate goals and interventions for 1 resident (#232) of the 44 residents selected for review in the Stage 2 sample.
Complete Care at Severna Park LLC, Severna Park, MD
Most recent F279 citations
| Inspection | Home | Town | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 4, 2017 | Carlin Springs Health & Rehabilitation | Arlington, VA | D |
| August 30, 2017 | August Healthcare at Leewood | Annandale, VA | D |
| August 24, 2017 | St. Martin's in the Pines | Irondale, AL | E |
| August 17, 2017 | Northside Health Care | Gadsden, AL | D |
| July 13, 2017 | Portsmouth Health and Rehab | Portsmouth, VA | D |
| May 18, 2017 | Complete Care at Severna Park LLC | Severna Park, MD | D |
Common questions
- What is F279 in a nursing home inspection?
- F279 is the federal requirement to "develop a complete care plan that meets all the resident's needs, with timetables and actions that can be measured". CMS files it under resident assessment and care planning. A home cited under F279 did not meet that requirement at the inspection.
- How often is F279 cited?
- The CMS files as of September 1, 2026 list 6 F279 citations at 6 nursing homes, 0 of them in the 12 months to that date. 0.0% were rated as actual harm or immediate jeopardy.
- Is a F279 citation serious?
- It depends on the letter. Most F279 citations (100.0%) were rated as potential for more than minimal harm, D to F. None in the current files is at the immediate jeopardy level.
The interpretive guidance inspectors use for each F-tag is CMS's State Operations Manual, Appendix PP. NursingHomeClear reports the citations as CMS records them and is not affiliated with CMS. All F-tags · Methodology