93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB6709

 

Introduced 02/09/04, by William B. Black

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
210 ILCS 45/3-212.5 new

    Amends the Nursing Home Care Act. Requires the Department of Public Health to implement alternative procedures for the nursing home survey process for purposes that include the more effective and efficient use of Department resources to target problem areas. Provides for a time period of up to 30 months between surveys; provides for annual monitoring visits in the case of nursing homes surveyed at intervals greater than 12 months. Provides for educational activities and an evaluation process.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB6709 LRB093 20160 DRJ 45905 b

1     AN ACT concerning health facilities.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Nursing Home Care Act is amended by adding
5 Section 3-212.5 as follows:
 
6     (210 ILCS 45/3-212.5 new)
7     Sec. 3-212.5. Alternative facility survey process.
8     (a) The Department shall implement alternative procedures
9 for the long-term care facility survey process as authorized
10 under this Section. These alternative survey process
11 procedures seek to do the following:
12         (1) Use Department resources more effectively and
13     efficiently to target problem areas.
14         (2) Use other existing or new mechanisms to provide
15     objective assessments of quality and to measure quality
16     improvement.
17         (3) Provide for frequent collaborative interaction of
18     facility staff and surveyors rather than a punitive
19     approach.
20         (4) Reward a facility that has performed very well by
21     extending intervals between full surveys.
22     The Department shall pursue changes in federal law
23     necessary to accomplish this process and shall apply for any
24     necessary federal waivers or approval. If a federal waiver is
25     approved, the Department shall promptly implement the waiver by
26     adopting emergency rules in accordance with Section 5-45 of the
27     Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. For purposes of that
28     Act, the adoption of those rules is deemed to be an emergency
29     and necessary for the public interest, safety, or welfare.
30     (b) The Department must extend the time period between
31     standard surveys up to 30 months based on the criteria
32     established in subsection (d). In using the alternative survey

 

 

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1     schedule, the requirement for the statewide average to not
2     exceed 12 months does not apply.
3     (c) The Department shall develop a process for identifying
4     the survey cycles for nursing facilities based on the
5     compliance history of the facility. This process may use a
6     range of months for survey intervals. At a minimum, the process
7     must be based on information from the last 2 survey cycles and
8     must take into consideration any deficiencies issued as the
9     result of a survey or a complaint investigation during the
10     interval. A nursing facility with a finding of substandard
11     quality of care or a finding of immediate jeopardy is not
12     entitled to a survey interval greater than 12 months. The
13     Department shall alter the survey cycle for a specific skilled
14     nursing facility based on findings identified through the
15     completion of a survey, a monitoring visit, or a complaint
16     investigation. The Department must also take into
17     consideration information other than the facility's compliance
18     history.
19     (d) The Department shall provide public notice of the
20     classification process and shall identify the selected survey
21     cycles for each nursing facility. The classification system
22     must be based on an analysis of the findings made during the
23     past 2 standard survey intervals, but it only takes one survey
24     or complaint finding to modify the interval. The Department
25     shall also take into consideration information obtained from
26     residents and family members in each nursing facility and from
27     other sources such as employees and ombudsmen in determining
28     the appropriate survey intervals for facilities.
29     (e) The Department shall conduct at least one monitoring
30     visit on an annual basis for every nursing facility that has
31     been selected for a survey cycle greater than 12 months. The
32     Department shall develop protocols for the monitoring visits;
33     the protocols shall be less extensive than the requirements for
34     a standard survey. The Department shall use the criteria set
35     forth in this subsection to determine whether additional
36     monitoring visits to a facility will be required.

 

 

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1     The criteria for determining whether additional monitoring
2     visits will be required shall include, but need not be limited
3     to, the following:
4         (1) Changes in the ownership or administration of the
5     facility, or changes in the direction of the facility's
6     nursing service.
7         (2) Changes in the facility's quality indicators that
8     might evidence a decline in the facility's quality of care.
9         (3) Reductions in staffing or an increase in the
10     utilization of temporary nursing personnel.
11         (4) Complaint information or other information that
12     identifies potential concerns for the quality of the care
13     and services provided in the facility.
14     (f) The Department shall establish a process for surveying
15     and monitoring facilities that require a survey interval of
16     less than 15 months. This information shall identify the steps
17     that the Department must take to monitor the facility in
18     addition to the standard survey.
19     (g) The implementation of an alternative survey process for
20     the State must not result in any reduction of funding that
21     would have been provided to the State survey agency for survey
22     and enforcement activity based on the completion of full
23     standard surveys for each skilled nursing facility in the
24     State.
25     (h) The Department shall expand the State survey agency's
26     training and educational efforts for skilled nursing
27     facilities, residents and family members, residents and family
28     councils, long-term care ombudsman programs, and the general
29     public.
30     (i) The Department shall develop a process for the
31     evaluation of the effectiveness of an alternative survey
32     process conducted under this Section.