The Joint Commission leadership standard 01.07.01 requires that the hospital board, senior managers, and leaders of the medical staff have knowledge needed for their roles, including information on laws and regulations. Failure to follow a federal law can be introduced into the courtroom to show that the hospital breached the standard of care and imply negligence. This program will discuss some of the many changes in federal regulations and interpretive guidelines by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the hospital conditions of participation which must be followed by every hospital that accepts Medicare or Medicaid.