Disclosure of Quality and Surveillance Information

The Nursing Care Quality Protection Act, effective March 15, 2010, added PHL Section 2805-t and requires Article 28 facilities to disclose identified nursing quality indicator information upon request to any member of the public, and to the Commissioner of any State agency responsible for licensing the facility or responsible for overseeing the delivery of services by the facility, or any organization accrediting the facility. The new requirement states that within 30 days of a written request, nursing homes shall provide to the requester, in hard copy or an electronic copy, such as a portable document format (pdf) file, the following information for a three to 12 month period of time that is not more than one year prior to the date of the request:

1. nurse staffing indicators and nurse-sensitive patient outcome indicators;
2. the procedures and processes used for determining and adjusting staffing levels based on patient case mix and acuity;
3. the final conclusions of any complaint investigations filed with any state or federal regulatory agency or accrediting agency and any citations resulting from surveys; and
4. the sources and dates for data disclosed.

Nurse sensitive indicators include the percent of long-stay residents who experienced one or more falls with major injury; the percentage of short-stay residents who have medical conditions that predispose them to developing a facility-acquired pressure ulcer with new or worsening pressure ulcers Stage II-IV; and the percentage of long-stay residents with urinary tract health care setting associated infections.

Contact: Elliott Frost, efrost@leadingageny.org. 518-867-8832