WHO ARE THE REGULATORS?

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1 BOARD OF NURSING HOME ADMINISTRATORS Kendra Pitzler Colleen Pe Benito Harry Aubert WHO ARE THE REGULATORS? Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) Regulates Skilled Nursing Facilities. Performs Surveys. Department of Health (DOH) DOH Health Systems Quality Assurance Division regulates and supports more than 404,000 health professionals in 83 health professions and 7,000 health groups and programs. This includes licensure of nursing home administrators. Board of Nursing Home Administrators Regulates Nursing Home Administrators through adopting minimum qualifications for licensure, approving the licensure examination, and assuring licensure requirements are met. Also has disciplinary authority over nursing home administrator licenses. Board Membership Consists of four Nursing Home Administrators, four health care professionals or educators and one public member. Members serve a 5 year term and can serve two successive terms. Names and terms of current board members can be found on the DOH nursing home administrator web site: nsnewreneworupdate/nursinghomeadministrator The board is required to have at least four meetings per year. These meetings are normally the first Friday in February, May, August and November. Anyone interested in applying to be a member of the board and do so on the Governor s web page: 1

2 Board Authority Licensure minimum requirements and renewal Rules Discipline & Enforcement Qualification of Licensees Baccalaureate degree is required by law. Can t be changed by the Board. The law requires the Board adopt a practical experience requirement. The Administrator in Training is a 1,500 hour program but can be reduced or exempted based on education and experience. NAB approved college programs exempt applicants from the AIT program. Eastern Washington University now has a program they are submitting for approval. Recognition of Out of State Licenses The law allows licensure of administrators who hold a license in another state if the standards for licensure in the other state is substantially equivalent to standards in Washington State. NHA standards greatly vary between the states. A list of substantially equivalent states and those that are not substantially equivalent is found in the application packet. 2

3 Continuing Education Administrators must have 36 hours of continuing education every two years. Your renewal notice will have information about whether CE is due in that renewal cycle. Continuing education does not need approval but must meet requirements in WAC If audited, you must submit documentation that you have completed 36 hours that meet CE requirements. All continuing education approved by NAB NCERS meets CE requirements. DOH encourages training in cultural diversity and suicide prevention. The Board has specifically approved these subjects for continuing education. COMPLAINT RESOLUTION Agenda Big Picture Investigation Discipline & Enforcement 3

4 BIG PICTURE Disciplining Authority Actors Board of Nursing Home Administrators Licensee Member(s) of the Board Public Member(s) of the Board/Commission Investigator (Office of Investigation and Inspection) Case Manager (Office of Investigation and Inspection) Supervising Staff Attorney/Staff Attorney (Office of Legal Services) Attorney General s Office/AAGs Disciplinary Process Complaint Intake Close Case Case Assessment Close Case Investigation Case Disposition Legal Action/Adjudication Pre Hearing Settlement attempt Hearing Post Hearing Not Settled Settled Monitoring Not Comply Comply 4

5 INVESTIGATION Reports Referral to the Office of Investigations and Inspections a.k.a assessment Report Assessed by Board Investigation Authorized Case Closed 5

6 Finished Investigation a.k.a case disposition Investigation Complete Reviewed by Board Member/Staff Attorney Presented to a Panel of the Board Timelines this is not a speedy process Initial Assessment 21 days WAC Investigation of Complaints 170 days WAC Case Disposition 140 days WAC Adjudication of SOCs 180 days WAC DISCIPLINE & ENFORCEMENT 6

7 Laws and Rules for Professions Each profession has enabling statutes that empower the Secretary or Board/Commission to regulate that profession. (RCW ) Each profession has a practice act that defines the profession and requires a person to obtain a license to practice that profession. (RCW (2)(b)(v); RCW ; RCW ; RCW ) Each profession has rules that further define and help regulate what licensees can do. (Chapter WAC) Uniform Disciplinary Act (Chapter RCW) Types of Legal Action Notice of Decision Notice of Correction Statement of Allegations Statement of Charges Summary Action SANCTIONS Sanction schedules identify the severity & duration of sanction (WAC to 890) 7

8 SANCTIONS Revocation Suspension Probation Fine Cost Recovery Continuing Education Provision of Inspection Reports Substance abuse monitoring BOARD MEMBER PERSPECTIVE When in danger or in doubt run in circles scream and shout! BOARD MEMBER PERSPECTIVE (Seriously) Complaint Data: Approximately 411,000 health related professionals credentialed by Department of Health. Approximately 440 are licensed nursing home administrators. For the biennium, the Department of Health received approximately 20,000 complaints were filed against credentialed healthcare providers A pattern that I have noticed in my 5 ½ years on the Board: In the past two years, the Board of Nursing Home Administrators case load has almost doubled. 8

9 Complaints relating to nursing home administrators continue to grow. The Board of Nursing Home Administrators received 216 complaints in the biennium. 156 complaints were received in FY 16 alone. RCW Nursing Home Administrator Law Intent The "Nursing Home Administrator Licensing Act".. is intended to establish and provide for the enforcement of standards for the licensing of nursing home administrators. The legislature finds that the quality of patient care in nursing homes is directly related to the competence of the nursing home administrators. It is the intent..that licensed nursing home administrators continually maintain (1) the suitable character required and (2) the capacity to consider the available resources and personnel of the facility subject to their authority and come to reasonable decisions implementing patient care. Nursing Home Administrator Need to Pay Attention Health care professionals who supervise other personnel can have action taken on their license if they do not properly supervise. License nursing home administrators may be more vulnerable to having disciplinary action against their license for the conduct of others because they are responsible for all staff in the nursing home. In summary, it is the boards responsibility to ensure that all complaints received are reviewed against the standard of practice of nursing home administrators as they provide quality care in a safe and clean environment. 9

10 CASE MANAGEMENT & REVIEW Board members serve on a case review panel every two weeks. Review new complaints: Received from DSHS, Residents, Family members, Staff, Others. Make decisions regarding investigations that have been reviewed by a member of the board who is a nursing home administrator. TYPES OF COMPLAINTS Abandonment Does your facility refuse to take clients back when they transfer to a hospital? Resident Rights Do your residents feel that they are able to do what they want? Quality of Care High resident volume. Low staff. Surveys resulting in multiple violations Resident Behavior Safety for other residents? Quality of Life Pressure sores, Diet, Medication. EXAMPLES The resident allegedly was illegally evicted, left homeless and without his possessions from the facility. The respondent was told by a judge to readmit the resident and allegedly has not. My mother fell and broke her ankle. I am the POA and did not receive a call. She was sent to the emergency room without my knowledge. The administrator came into my room when I was not present and took my cigarettes and lighter out of my purse. The residents received poor care. It is impossible for the staff to take care of everyone with this high resident load. My mother was discharged from the facility, and the administrator had promised that she would be at the new facility at 11:15 AM. She arrived at 1045 and I was not there. 10

11 F TAGS TO WATCH Problem areas resident behavior, quality of life, and quality of care: Resident Behavior F tags 221 through 226 refer mostly to mandatory reporting, hiring practices and the secretary s list Quality of Life F tags 240 through 257 refers mostly to dignity choices activities groups, commendations of needs notice qualifications of activity director and social services in a safe and clean environment with good lighting and comfortable safe temperatures. Quality of Care F tags 309 through 334 refers to necessary care at the highest well being ADL, pressure sores, specialty concerns like catheterization psychosocial feeding tube therapeutic diets sufficient would then take free from unnecessary drugs medication errors. F TAGS (CONTINUED) The above F tag ranges should be on your radar screen during risk management and incident reports that you participate in daily with nursing management! Are you aware that a pattern or widespread failure in these areas lead substandard quality of care surveys? And did you further know DSHS is obligated as a contracted survey or for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, to report to the board of nursing home administrators the survey results? These tags all encompass what other people do for you. If not done well they can cost you your license and livelihood. WHAT CAN THE ADMINISTRATOR DO? Pay attention to F Tags relating to Resident Behavior, Quality of Life and Quality of Care. DSHS is required to report surveys that results in sanctions to your facility. Be sure you are aware what is happening within your departments. You should be aware of problems that continue to happen or incidents with clients that have not been resolved. 11

12 INFORMATION FOR NURSING HOME ADMINISTRATORS All nursing home administrators are required to take a class relating to Washington law within 6 months of licensure. If you have not taken the Washington law class, be sure to do so. A refresher can also be a good idea. DNS Your right hand. Employees Oriented to mandatory reporting and updated periodically. NURSING ADMINISTRATOR ROLE Ultimate resident advocates. Ensure Staff Performance. Ensure Quality Care in a Safe Environment. Ensure the Basics are in Place. The Small Stuff Matters. ADDITIONAL THOUGHT For the want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of the horse the leader was lost. For want of the leader the battle was lost. And all for the want of a nail! If major systems fail under your leadership, it has consequences to both the people we serve as well as personally to our careers and reputation. 12

13 FINAL THOUGHT We Cannot Provide Quality Care With Excuses Yours or Mine Purposeful Activity Matters Results Count Stay Informed Staying informed about license changes and new or changing regulations are key to success. The Board of Nursing Home Administrators has a listserv that will keep you up to date on both Board activity as well as regulation changes. To sign up please visit: BOARD&A=1 Stay Informed In addition to the Board of Nursing Home Administrators there are other resources to find information on legislative action or regulation changes National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards (NAB) America Healthcare Association (AHCA) LeadingAge 13

14 For More Information Department of Health Nursing Home Administrator web site: ewreneworupdate/nursinghomeadministrator NAB Website: CONTACT INFORMATION: Kendra Pitzler, Program Manager PO Box Olympia, WA