Florida Senate - 2015                                     SB 862
       
       
        
       By Senator Soto
       
       
       
       
       
       14-00619-15                                            2015862__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to Nursing Home Guides; amending s.
    3         400.191, F.S.; requiring the Agency for Health Care
    4         Administration to publish Gold Seal designations in
    5         the Nursing Home Guide; requiring each nursing home
    6         facility to post a sign on every facility entrance
    7         which indicates the Gold Seal designation of the
    8         facility; requiring a nursing home facility on the
    9         Nursing Home Guide Watch List to provide notice
   10         containing certain information to the primary familial
   11         contact for each resident; reenacting s. 400.23(2)(h),
   12         F.S., to incorporate the amendment made to s. 400.191,
   13         F.S., in a reference thereto; providing an effective
   14         date.
   15          
   16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   17  
   18         Section 1. Subsection (3) of section 400.191, Florida
   19  Statutes, is amended to read:
   20         400.191 Availability, distribution, and posting of reports
   21  and records.—
   22         (3) Each nursing home facility licensee shall maintain as
   23  public information, available upon request, records of all cost
   24  and inspection reports pertaining to that facility that have
   25  been filed with, or issued by, any governmental agency. Copies
   26  of the reports shall be retained in the records for not less
   27  than 5 years following the date the reports are filed or issued.
   28         (a) The agency shall publish in the Nursing Home Guide
   29  those nursing homes awarded the Gold Seal designation for
   30  excellence in long-term care pursuant to s. 400.235 and a
   31  “Nursing Home Guide Watch List” to assist consumers in
   32  evaluating the quality of nursing home care in Florida. The
   33  watch list must identify each facility that met the criteria for
   34  a conditional licensure status and each facility that is
   35  operating under bankruptcy protection. The watch list must
   36  include, but is not limited to, the facility’s name, address,
   37  and ownership; the county in which the facility operates; the
   38  license expiration date; the number of licensed beds; a
   39  description of the deficiency causing the facility to be placed
   40  on the list; any corrective action taken; and the cumulative
   41  number of days and percentage of days the facility had a
   42  conditional license in the past 30 months. The watch list must
   43  include a brief description regarding how to choose a nursing
   44  home, the categories of licensure, the agency’s inspection
   45  process, an explanation of terms used in the watch list, and the
   46  addresses and phone numbers of the agency’s health quality
   47  assurance field offices.
   48         (b) Upon publication of each Nursing Home Guide, the agency
   49  must post a copy on its website by the 15th calendar day of the
   50  second month following the end of the calendar quarter. Each
   51  nursing home licensee must retrieve the most recent version of
   52  the Nursing Home Guide from the agency’s website.
   53         (c) Each nursing home facility must clearly and
   54  conspicuously post a sign on every facility entrance that
   55  indicates the Gold Seal designation of the nursing home.
   56         (d) A facility placed on the watch list must provide
   57  written or electronic notice to the primary familial contact of
   58  each resident of that facility informing them of the placement
   59  of that facility on the watch list. The notice must include a
   60  description of the deficiency causing the facility to be placed
   61  on the list, any corrective action taken by the facility to
   62  resolve the deficiency, and the cumulative number of days and
   63  percentage of days the facility had a conditional license in the
   64  30 months immediately before the facility was placed on the
   65  list.
   66         Section 2. Paragraph (h) of subsection (2) of s. 400.23,
   67  Florida Statutes, is reenacted for the purpose of incorporating
   68  the amendment made by this act to s. 400.191, Florida Statutes,
   69  in a reference thereto.
   70         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.