HB 7053

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to nursing home consumer information;
3	amending s. 400.191, F.S.; authorizing the Agency for
4	Health Care Administration to provide electronic access to
5	nursing home inspection reports; requiring the agency to
6	publish the Nursing Home Guide in printed and electronic
7	format at certain times and specifying information to be
8	included therein; requiring the agency to provide certain
9	consumer information in the Nursing Home Guide; deleting
10	reference to an obsolete reporting system; requiring each
11	nursing home facility to submit certain information
12	electronically when electronic transmission to the agency
13	is available; providing an effective date.
14
15	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
16
17	Section 1.  Section 400.191, Florida Statutes, is amended
18	to read:
19	400.191  Availability, distribution, and posting of reports
20	and records.--
21	(1)  The agency shall provide information to the public
22	about all of the licensed nursing home facilities operating in
23	the state. The agency shall, within 60 days after an annual
24	inspection visit or within 30 days after any interim visit to a
25	facility, send copies of the inspection reports to the local
26	long-term care ombudsman council, the agency's local office, and
27	a public library or the county seat for the county in which the
28	facility is located. The agency may provide electronic access to
29	inspection reports as a substitute for sending copies.
30	(2)  The agency shall publish the Nursing Home Guide
31	annually provide additional information in consumer-friendly
32	printed form and quarterly in electronic form formats to assist
33	consumers and their families in comparing and evaluating nursing
34	home facilities.
35	(a)  The agency shall provide an Internet site which shall
36	include at least the following information either directly or
37	indirectly through a link to another established site or sites
38	of the agency's choosing:
39	1.  A list by name and address of all nursing home
40	facilities in this state, including any prior name by which a
41	facility was known during the previous 24-month period.
42	2.  Whether such nursing home facilities are proprietary or
43	nonproprietary.
44	3.  The current owner of the facility's license and the
45	year that that entity became the owner of the license.
46	4.  The name of the owner or owners of each facility and
47	whether the facility is affiliated with a company or other
48	organization owning or managing more than one nursing facility
49	in this state.
50	5.  The total number of beds in each facility and the most
51	recently available occupancy levels.
52	6.  The number of private and semiprivate rooms in each
53	facility.
54	7.  The religious affiliation, if any, of each facility.
55	8.  The languages spoken by the administrator and staff of
56	each facility.
57	9.  Whether or not each facility accepts Medicare or
58	Medicaid recipients or insurance, health maintenance
59	organization, Veterans Administration, CHAMPUS program, or
60	workers' compensation coverage.
61	10.  Recreational and other programs available at each
62	facility.
63	11.  Special care units or programs offered at each
64	facility.
65	12.  Whether the facility is a part of a retirement
66	community that offers other services pursuant to part III, part
67	IV, or part V.
68	13.  Survey and deficiency information contained on the
69	Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) system of the
70	federal Health Care Financing Administration, including all
71	federal and state recertification, licensure annual survey,
72	revisit, and complaint survey information, for each facility for
73	the past 30 45 months.  For noncertified nursing homes, state
74	survey and deficiency information, including licensure annual
75	survey, revisit, and complaint survey information for the past
76	30 45 months shall be provided.
77	14.  A summary of the deficiency Online Survey
78	Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) data for each facility over
79	the past 30 45 months. Such summary may include a score, rating,
80	or comparison ranking with respect to other facilities based on
81	the number of citations received by the facility on
82	recertification, licensure of annual, revisit, and complaint
83	surveys; the severity and scope of the citations; and the number
84	of annual recertification surveys the facility has had during
85	the past 30 45 months. The score, rating, or comparison ranking
86	may be presented in either numeric or symbolic form for the
87	intended consumer audience.
88	(b)  The agency shall provide the following information in
89	printed form:
90	1.  A list by name and address of all nursing home
91	facilities in this state.
92	2.  Whether such nursing home facilities are proprietary or
93	nonproprietary.
94	3.  The current owner or owners of the facility's license
95	and the year that entity became the owner of the license.
96	4.  The total number of beds, and of private and
97	semiprivate rooms, in each facility.
98	5.  The religious affiliation, if any, of each facility.
99	6.  The name of the owner of each facility and whether the
100	facility is affiliated with a company or other organization
101	owning or managing more than one nursing facility in this state.
102	7.  The languages spoken by the administrator and staff of
103	each facility.
104	8.  Whether or not each facility accepts Medicare or
105	Medicaid recipients or insurance, health maintenance
106	organization, Veterans Administration, CHAMPUS program, or
107	workers' compensation coverage.
108	9.  Recreational programs, special care units, and other
109	programs available at each facility.
110	10.  The Internet address for the site where more detailed
111	information can be seen.
112	11.  A statement advising consumers that each facility will
113	have its own policies and procedures related to protecting
114	resident property.
115	12.  A summary of the deficiency Online Survey
116	Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) data for each facility over
117	the past 30 45 months. Such summary may include a score, rating,
118	or comparison ranking with respect to other facilities based on
119	the number of citations received by the facility on
120	recertification, licensure annual, revisit, and complaint
121	surveys; the severity and scope of the citations; the number of
122	citations; and the number of annual recertification surveys the
123	facility has had during the past 30 45 months. The score,
124	rating, or comparison ranking may be presented in either numeric
125	or symbolic form for the intended consumer audience.
126	(c)  For purposes of this subsection, references to the
127	Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) system shall
128	refer to any future system that the Health Care Financing
129	Administration develops to replace the current OSCAR system.
130	(c)(d)  The agency may provide the following additional
131	information on an Internet site or in printed form as the
132	information becomes available:
133	1.  The licensure status history of each facility.
134	2.  The rating history of each facility.
135	3.  The regulatory history of each facility, which may
136	include federal sanctions, state sanctions, federal fines, state
137	fines, and other actions.
138	4.  Whether the facility currently possesses the Gold Seal
139	designation awarded pursuant to s. 400.235.
140	5.  Internet links to the Internet sites of the facilities
141	or their affiliates.
142	(3)  Each nursing home facility licensee shall maintain as
143	public information, available upon request, records of all cost
144	and inspection reports pertaining to that facility that have
145	been filed with, or issued by, any governmental agency. Copies
146	of the such reports shall be retained in the such records for
147	not less than 5 years following from the date the reports are
148	filed or issued.
149	(a)  The agency shall quarterly publish in the Nursing Home
150	Guide a "Nursing Home Guide Watch List" to assist consumers in
151	evaluating the quality of nursing home care in Florida. The
152	watch list must identify each facility that met the criteria for
153	a conditional licensure status to be noticed as specified in
154	this section on any day within the quarter covered by the list
155	and each facility that is was operating under bankruptcy
156	protection on any day within the quarter. The watch list must
157	include, but is not limited to, the facility's name, address,
158	and ownership; the county in which the facility operates; the
159	license expiration date; the number of licensed beds; a
160	description of the deficiency causing the facility to be placed
161	on the list; any corrective action taken; and the cumulative
162	number of days and percentage of days times the facility had a
163	conditional license during the past 30 months has been on a
164	watch list. The watch list must include a brief description
165	regarding how to choose a nursing home, the categories of
166	licensure, the agency's inspection process, an explanation of
167	terms used in the watch list, and the addresses and phone
168	numbers of the agency's managed care and health quality
169	assurance field area offices.
170	(b)  Upon publication of each Nursing Home Guide quarterly
171	watch list, the agency must post transmit a copy on its Internet
172	website by the 15th calendar day of the second month following
173	the end of the calendar quarter. Each nursing home licensee must
174	retrieve the most recent version of the Nursing Home Guide from
175	of the watch list to each nursing home facility by mail and must
176	make the watch list available on the agency's Internet website.
177	(4)  Any records of a nursing home facility determined by
178	the agency to be necessary and essential to establish lawful
179	compliance with any rules or standards shall be made available
180	to the agency on the premises of the facility and submitted to
181	the agency. Each facility must submit this information
182	electronically when electronic transmission to the agency is
183	available.
184	(5)  Every nursing home facility licensee shall:
185	(a)  Post, in a sufficient number of prominent positions in
186	the nursing home so as to be accessible to all residents and to
187	the general public:
188	1.  A concise summary of the last inspection report
189	pertaining to the nursing home and issued by the agency, with
190	references to the page numbers of the full reports, noting any
191	deficiencies found by the agency and the actions taken by the
192	licensee to rectify the such deficiencies and indicating in the
193	such summaries where the full reports may be inspected in the
194	nursing home.
195	2.  A copy of all pages listing the facility from the most
196	recent version of the Florida Nursing Home Guide Watch List.
197	(b)  Upon request, provide to any person who has completed
198	a written application with an intent to be admitted to, or to
199	any resident of, such nursing home, or to any relative, spouse,
200	or guardian of such person, a copy of the last inspection report
201	pertaining to the nursing home and issued by the agency,
202	provided the person requesting the report agrees to pay a
203	reasonable charge to cover copying costs.
204	(6)  The agency may adopt rules as necessary to administer
205	this section.
206	Section 2.  This act shall take effect October 1, 2006.

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