Senate Bill sb1284

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 1284

    By Senator Fasano





    11-944-06

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to nursing home consumer

  3         information; amending s. 400.191, F.S.;

  4         authorizing the Agency for Health Care

  5         Administration to provide electronic access to

  6         inspection reports from nursing homes in lieu

  7         of sending copies of the reports; requiring the

  8         agency to provide certain information to

  9         consumers; decreasing the number of months for

10         which reported information must be provided to

11         consumers; deleting references to the Online

12         Survey Certification and Reporting system;

13         requiring the agency to publish a Nursing Home

14         Guide Watch List in the Nursing Home Guide;

15         requiring that the watch list include certain

16         days when a facility had a conditional license;

17         requiring the agency to post a copy of the

18         Nursing Home Guide on its website; requiring

19         each nursing home facility to submit certain

20         information to the agency electronically;

21         providing an effective date.

22  

23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

24  

25         Section 1.  Section 400.191, Florida Statutes, is

26  amended to read:

27         400.191  Availability, distribution, and posting of

28  reports and records.--

29         (1)  The agency shall provide information to the public

30  about all of the licensed nursing home facilities operating in

31  the state. The agency shall, within 60 days after an annual

                                  1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 1284
    11-944-06




 1  inspection visit or within 30 days after any interim visit to

 2  a facility, send copies of the inspection reports to the local

 3  long-term care ombudsman council, the agency's local office,

 4  and a public library or the county seat for the county in

 5  which the facility is located. The agency may provide

 6  electronic access to inspection reports as a substitute for

 7  sending copies.

 8         (2)  The agency shall publish the Nursing Home Guide

 9  provide additional information in consumer-friendly printed

10  and electronic formats to assist consumers and their families

11  in comparing and evaluating nursing home facilities.

12         (a)  The agency shall provide an Internet site that

13  provides which shall include at least the following

14  information either directly or indirectly through a link to

15  another established site or sites of the agency's choosing:

16         1.  A list by name and address of all nursing home

17  facilities in this state, including any name by which a

18  facility has been known during the previous 12-month period.

19         2.  Whether the such nursing home facilities are

20  proprietary or nonproprietary.

21         3.  The current owner of the facility's license and the

22  year that that entity became the owner of the license.

23         4.  The name of the owner or owners of each facility

24  and whether the facility is affiliated with a company or other

25  organization owning or managing more than one nursing facility

26  in this state.

27         5.  The total number of beds in each facility and the

28  most recent member of occupants in the facility.

29         6.  The number of private and semiprivate rooms in each

30  facility.

31  

                                  2

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 1284
    11-944-06




 1         7.  The religious affiliation, if any, of each

 2  facility.

 3         8.  The languages spoken by the administrator and staff

 4  of each facility.

 5         9.  Whether or not each facility accepts Medicare or

 6  Medicaid recipients or insurance, health maintenance

 7  organization, Veterans Administration, CHAMPUS program, or

 8  workers' compensation coverage.

 9         10.  Recreational and other programs available at each

10  facility.

11         11.  Special care units or programs offered at each

12  facility.

13         12.  Whether the facility is a part of a retirement

14  community that offers other services pursuant to part III,

15  part IV, or part V.

16         13.  Survey and deficiency information contained on the

17  Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) system of

18  the federal Health Care Financing Administration, including

19  all federal and state recertification, licensure annual

20  survey, revisit, and complaint survey information, for each

21  facility for the past 30 45 months.  For noncertified nursing

22  homes, state survey and deficiency information, including

23  licensure annual survey, revisit, and complaint survey

24  information for the past 30 45 months shall be provided.

25         14.  A summary of the deficiency Online Survey

26  Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) data for each facility

27  over the past 30 45 months. The Such summary may include a

28  score, rating, or comparison ranking with respect to other

29  facilities based on the number of citations received by the

30  facility on recertification, licensure of annual, revisit, and

31  complaint surveys; the severity and scope of the citations;

                                  3

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 1284
    11-944-06




 1  and the number of annual recertification surveys the facility

 2  has had during the past 30 45 months. The score, rating, or

 3  comparison ranking may be presented in either numeric or

 4  symbolic form for the intended consumer audience.

 5         (b)  The agency shall provide the following information

 6  in printed form:

 7         1.  A list by name and address of all nursing home

 8  facilities in this state.

 9         2.  Whether the such nursing home facilities are

10  proprietary or nonproprietary.

11         3.  The current owner or owners of the facility's

12  license and the year that entity became the owner of the

13  license.

14         4.  The total number of beds, and of private and

15  semiprivate rooms, in each facility.

16         5.  The religious affiliation, if any, of each

17  facility.

18         6.  The name of the owner of each facility and whether

19  the facility is affiliated with a company or other

20  organization owning or managing more than one nursing facility

21  in this state.

22         7.  The languages spoken by the administrator and staff

23  of each facility.

24         8.  Whether or not each facility accepts Medicare or

25  Medicaid recipients or insurance, health maintenance

26  organization, Veterans Administration, CHAMPUS program, or

27  workers' compensation coverage.

28         9.  Recreational programs, special care units, and

29  other programs available at each facility.

30         10.  The Internet address for the site where more

31  detailed information can be seen.

                                  4

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 1284
    11-944-06




 1         11.  A statement advising consumers that each facility

 2  will have its own policies and procedures related to

 3  protecting resident property.

 4         12.  A summary of the deficiency Online Survey

 5  Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) data for each facility

 6  over the past 30 45 months. The Such summary may include a

 7  score, rating, or comparison ranking with respect to other

 8  facilities based on the number of citations received by the

 9  facility on recertification, licensure annual, revisit, and

10  complaint surveys; the severity and scope of the citations;

11  the number of citations; and the number of annual

12  recertification surveys the facility has had during the past

13  30 45 months. The score, rating, or comparison ranking may be

14  presented in either numeric or symbolic form for the intended

15  consumer audience.

16         (c)  For purposes of this subsection, references to the

17  Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) system shall

18  refer to any future system that the Health Care Financing

19  Administration develops to replace the current OSCAR system.

20         (c)(d)  The agency may provide the following additional

21  information on an Internet site or in printed form as the

22  information becomes available:

23         1.  The licensure status history of each facility.

24         2.  The rating history of each facility.

25         3.  The regulatory history of each facility, which may

26  include federal sanctions, state sanctions, federal fines,

27  state fines, and other actions.

28         4.  Whether the facility currently possesses the Gold

29  Seal designation awarded pursuant to s. 400.235.

30         5.  Internet links to the Internet sites of the

31  facilities or their affiliates.

                                  5

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 1284
    11-944-06




 1         (3)  Each nursing home facility licensee shall maintain

 2  as public information, available upon request, records of all

 3  cost and inspection reports pertaining to that facility that

 4  have been filed with, or issued by, any governmental agency.

 5  Copies of the such reports shall be retained in the such

 6  records for not less than 5 years following from the date the

 7  reports are filed or issued.

 8         (a)  The agency shall quarterly publish in the Nursing

 9  Home Guide a "Nursing Home Guide Watch List" to assist

10  consumers in evaluating the quality of nursing home care in

11  Florida. The watch list must identify each facility that met

12  the criteria for a conditional licensure status on any day

13  within the quarter covered by the list and each facility that

14  is was operating under bankruptcy protection on any day within

15  the quarter. The watch list must include, but is not limited

16  to, the facility's name, address, and ownership; the county in

17  which the facility operates; the license expiration date; the

18  number of licensed beds; a description of the deficiency

19  causing the facility to be placed on the list; any corrective

20  action taken; and the cumulative number of days and percentage

21  of days times the facility had a conditional license in the

22  past 30 months has been on a watch list. The watch list must

23  include a brief description regarding how to choose a nursing

24  home, the categories of licensure, the agency's inspection

25  process, an explanation of terms used in the watch list, and

26  the addresses and phone numbers of the agency's managed care

27  and health quality assurance field area offices.

28         (b)  Upon publication of each Nursing Home Guide

29  quarterly watch list, the agency must post transmit a copy on

30  its website by the 15th calendar day of the second month

31  following the end of the calendar quarter. Each nursing home

                                  6

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 1284
    11-944-06




 1  licensee must retrieve the most recent version of the Nursing

 2  Home Guide from of the watch list to each nursing home

 3  facility by mail and must make the watch list available on the

 4  agency's Internet website.

 5         (4)  Any records of a nursing home facility determined

 6  by the agency to be necessary and essential to establish

 7  lawful compliance with any rules or standards must shall be

 8  made available to the agency on the premises of the facility

 9  and submitted to the agency. Each facility must submit this

10  information to the agency by electronic transmission when

11  available.

12         (5)  Every nursing home facility licensee shall:

13         (a)  Post, in a sufficient number of prominent

14  positions in the nursing home so as to be accessible to all

15  residents and to the general public:

16         1.  A concise summary of the last inspection report

17  pertaining to the nursing home and issued by the agency, with

18  references to the page numbers of the full reports, noting any

19  deficiencies found by the agency and the actions taken by the

20  licensee to rectify the such deficiencies and indicating in

21  the such summaries where the full reports may be inspected in

22  the nursing home.

23         2.  A copy of all of the pages that list the facility

24  in the most recent version of the Florida Nursing Home Guide

25  Watch List.

26         (b)  Upon request, provide to any person who has

27  completed a written application with an intent to be admitted

28  to, or to any resident of, a such nursing home, or to any

29  relative, spouse, or guardian of the such person, a copy of

30  the last inspection report pertaining to the nursing home and

31  issued by the agency, provided the person requesting the

                                  7

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 1284
    11-944-06




 1  report agrees to pay a reasonable charge to cover copying

 2  costs.

 3         (6)  The agency may adopt rules as necessary to

 4  administer this section.

 5         Section 2.  This act shall take effect October 1, 2006.

 6  

 7            *****************************************

 8                          SENATE SUMMARY

 9    Authorizes the Agency for Health Care Administration to
      provide electronic access to inspection reports from
10    nursing homes in lieu of sending copies of the reports.
      Specifies that the agency provide certain information to
11    consumers. Decreases the number of months for which
      reported information must be provided to consumers.
12    Deletes references to the Online Survey Certification and
      Reporting system. Requires the agency to publish a
13    Nursing Home Guide Watch List in the Nursing Home Guide.
      Requires that the watch list include certain days when a
14    facility had a conditional license. Requires the agency
      to post a copy of the Nursing Home Guide on its website.
15    Requires each nursing home facility to submit certain
      information to the agency electronically.
16  

17  

18  

19  

20  

21  

22  

23  

24  

25  

26  

27  

28  

29  

30  

31  

                                  8

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.