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Panel backs bill to expand nursing-home data, require medical-director credentials and impose fines for missing reports
Summary
Senate Bill 170 would require new consumer satisfaction and patient-safety surveys, medical-director certification, electronic health records reporting, and a $10,000 fine for failures to submit financial data to the state nursing-home reporting system. The committee adopted an amendment clarifying the fine applies to facilities and home offices,
The Committee on Health Policy unanimously reported Senate Bill 170 favorably after adopting an amendment clarifying enforcement for reporting failures.
Senator Burton told members the bill would require the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) to develop a consumer satisfaction survey and make aggregated information available to people researching nursing-home options. The bill also requires nursing-home medical directors to hold certification from the American Medical Directors Association or a similar credential recognized by AHCA, mandates a biannual patient-safety culture survey, and requires nursing homes to maintain electronic health records and share admit/transfer/discharge data with the Florida Health Information Exchange Program.
The bill imposes a $10,000 fine on a nursing home home office or facility that fails to submit financial data to the Florida Nursing Home Uniform Reporting System. Senator Burton said only about half of required audits and reports are being submitted under current law and that the fine aims to increase compliance. The bill also requires AHCA to report to the governor and legislature on payments made under the Medicaid Quality Incentive Program and trends in quality attributable to those payments.
An amendment (barcode 488,560) accepted by the committee clarifies the $10,000 fine applies to both home offices and facilities and that the fine supplants other fines that could be issued under current law. Senator Davis asked for information on AHCA rulemaking timelines and who would bear the cost of medical-director certification; Burton said the bill does not specify cost responsibility and called certification a "cost of doing business." She also offered to return for follow-up on implementation timelines.
Witnesses listed support included AARP and the Florida Health Care Association (waived). The committee recorded a unanimous yes vote and reported the bill favorably to the next legislative step.
