The Florida Senate

400.191  Availability, distribution, and posting of reports and records.--

(1)  The agency shall provide information to the public about all of the licensed nursing home facilities operating in the state. The agency shall, within 60 days after an annual inspection visit or within 30 days after any interim visit to a facility, send copies of the inspection reports to the local long-term care ombudsman council, the agency's local office, and a public library or the county seat for the county in which the facility is located.

(2)  The agency shall provide additional information in consumer-friendly printed and electronic formats to assist consumers and their families in comparing and evaluating nursing home facilities.

(a)  The agency shall provide an Internet site which shall include at least the following information either directly or indirectly through a link to another established site or sites of the agency's choosing:

1.  A list by name and address of all nursing home facilities in this state.

2.  Whether such nursing home facilities are proprietary or nonproprietary.

3.  The current owner of the facility's license and the year that that entity became the owner of the license.

4.  The name of the owner or owners of each facility and whether the facility is affiliated with a company or other organization owning or managing more than one nursing facility in this state.

5.  The total number of beds in each facility.

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

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

8.  The languages spoken by the administrator and staff of each facility.

9.  Whether or not each facility accepts Medicare or Medicaid recipients or insurance, health maintenance organization, Veterans Administration, CHAMPUS program, or workers' compensation coverage.

10.  Recreational and other programs available at each facility.

11.  Special care units or programs offered at each facility.

12.  Whether the facility is a part of a retirement community that offers other services pursuant to part III, part IV, or part V.

13.  Survey and deficiency information contained on the Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) system of the federal Health Care Financing Administration, including annual survey, revisit, and complaint survey information, for each facility for the past 45 months. For noncertified nursing homes, state survey and deficiency information, including annual survey, revisit, and complaint survey information for the past 45 months shall be provided.

14.  A summary of the Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) data for each facility over the past 45 months. Such summary may include a score, rating, or comparison ranking with respect to other facilities based on the number of citations received by the facility of annual, revisit, and complaint surveys; the severity and scope of the citations; and the number of annual recertification surveys the facility has had during the past 45 months. The score, rating, or comparison ranking may be presented in either numeric or symbolic form for the intended consumer audience.

(b)  The agency shall provide the following information in printed form:

1.  A list by name and address of all nursing home facilities in this state.

2.  Whether such nursing home facilities are proprietary or nonproprietary.

3.  The current owner or owners of the facility's license and the year that entity became the owner of the license.

4.  The total number of beds, and of private and semiprivate rooms, in each facility.

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

6.  The name of the owner of each facility and whether the facility is affiliated with a company or other organization owning or managing more than one nursing facility in this state.

7.  The languages spoken by the administrator and staff of each facility.

8.  Whether or not each facility accepts Medicare or Medicaid recipients or insurance, health maintenance organization, Veterans Administration, CHAMPUS program, or workers' compensation coverage.

9.  Recreational programs, special care units, and other programs available at each facility.

10.  The Internet address for the site where more detailed information can be seen.

11.  A statement advising consumers that each facility will have its own policies and procedures related to protecting resident property.

12.  A summary of the Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) data for each facility over the past 45 months. Such summary may include a score, rating, or comparison ranking with respect to other facilities based on the number of citations received by the facility on annual, revisit, and complaint surveys; the severity and scope of the citations; the number of citations; and the number of annual recertification surveys the facility has had during the past 45 months. The score, rating, or comparison ranking may be presented in either numeric or symbolic form for the intended consumer audience.

(c)  For purposes of this subsection, references to the Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) system shall refer to any future system that the Health Care Financing Administration develops to replace the current OSCAR system.

(d)  The agency may provide the following additional information on an Internet site or in printed form as the information becomes available:

1.  The licensure status history of each facility.

2.  The rating history of each facility.

3.  The regulatory history of each facility, which may include federal sanctions, state sanctions, federal fines, state fines, and other actions.

4.  Whether the facility currently possesses the Gold Seal designation awarded pursuant to s. 400.235

5.  Internet links to the Internet sites of the facilities or their affiliates.

(3)  Each nursing home facility licensee shall maintain as public information, available upon request, records of all cost and inspection reports pertaining to that facility that have been filed with, or issued by, any governmental agency. Copies of such reports shall be retained in such records for not less than 5 years from the date the reports are filed or issued.

(a)  The agency shall quarterly publish a "Nursing Home Guide Watch List" to assist consumers in evaluating the quality of nursing home care in Florida. The watch list must identify each facility that met the criteria for a conditional licensure status on any day within the quarter covered by the list and each facility that was operating under bankruptcy protection on any day within the quarter. The watch list must include, but is not limited to, the facility's name, address, and ownership; the county in which the facility operates; the license expiration date; the number of licensed beds; a description of the deficiency causing the facility to be placed on the list; any corrective action taken; and the cumulative number of times the facility has been on a watch list. The watch list must include a brief description regarding how to choose a nursing home, the categories of licensure, the agency's inspection process, an explanation of terms used in the watch list, and the addresses and phone numbers of the agency's managed care and health quality area offices.

(b)  Upon publication of each quarterly watch list, the agency must transmit a copy of the watch list to each nursing home facility by mail and must make the watch list available on the agency's Internet website.

(4)  Any records of a nursing home facility determined by the agency to be necessary and essential to establish lawful compliance with any rules or standards shall be made available to the agency on the premises of the facility.

(5)  Every nursing home facility licensee shall:

(a)  Post, in a sufficient number of prominent positions in the nursing home so as to be accessible to all residents and to the general public:

1.  A concise summary of the last inspection report pertaining to the nursing home and issued by the agency, with references to the page numbers of the full reports, noting any deficiencies found by the agency and the actions taken by the licensee to rectify such deficiencies and indicating in such summaries where the full reports may be inspected in the nursing home.

2.  A copy of the most recent version of the Florida Nursing Home Guide Watch List.

(b)  Upon request, provide to any person who has completed a written application with an intent to be admitted to, or to any resident of, such nursing home, or to any relative, spouse, or guardian of such person, a copy of the last inspection report pertaining to the nursing home and issued by the agency, provided the person requesting the report agrees to pay a reasonable charge to cover copying costs.

(6)  The agency may adopt rules as necessary to administer this section.

History.--s. 6, ch. 76-201; ss. 2, 12, ch. 80-198; s. 250, ch. 81-259; s. 2, ch. 81-318; ss. 6, 22, ch. 82-182; ss. 27, 79, 83, ch. 83-181; s. 16, ch. 90-347; s. 30, ch. 93-177; ss. 26, 49, ch. 93-217; s. 26, ch. 97-100; s. 15, ch. 99-394; s. 140, ch. 2000-349; s. 5, ch. 2000-350; s. 60, ch. 2000-367; ss. 28, 55, ch. 2001-45; s. 16, ch. 2001-377; s. 38, ch. 2003-1.