F0600 — Free from Abuse and Neglect
F0600 requires that residents be free from abuse, neglect, misappropriation of property, and exploitation. It's the foundational tag in this category — often the first tag cited when an incident is substantiated, with more specific tags (F0602, F0603, F0604, F0609) layered on depending on what the facility did or didn't do around policy, response, or reporting.
Common Deficiency Examples
- Substantiated resident-to-resident altercation without adequate supervision or intervention
- Staff member behavior that meets the abuse definition (verbal, physical, mental, or sexual)
- Neglect through failure to provide services necessary to avoid physical harm or mental anguish
- Unexplained injury without adequate investigation
What Your Plan of Correction Needs
F0600 PoCs carry particularly high scrutiny because they're reputationally and legally sensitive. Beyond the standard four elements, strong PoCs typically also show:
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every F0600 citation require police notification?+
Reporting requirements depend on the nature of the incident and state law — this varies and should be confirmed with your compliance/legal process, not assumed from the tag alone.
How is F0600 different from F0602/F0603?+
F0600 is the substantive "free from abuse/neglect" requirement itself. F0602 and F0603 are about your policies and your response process — a facility can be cited under all three for the same incident if both the event and the surrounding process failed.
Cited on F0600? PoC360 generates your Plan of Correction instantly.
Import your CMS-2567 and get a complete PoC draft for every F-tag — corrective action, systemic fix, monitoring plan, and completion date.