Survey Trends in Kansas
LeadingAge Kansas, Kansas Healthcare Association, and Kansas Adult Care Executives met with Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) Survey, Credentialing, and Certification Assistant Commissioner, Dawne Altis, to discuss healthcare survey trends across nursing homes and state licensed only facilities. Year to date, there is only 1 nursing home surveyed that has received zero deficiencies and there are 73 state-licensed only facilities surveyed that have received zero deficiencies.
Nursing Homes Top 3 Tag Citations and Examples – Year to Date
F0689 – Free of Accident Hazards/Supervision/Devices – 136 citations – 30.3% of Kansas providers – Top G+
–Examples: Falls from lists, not enough staff assisting with lifts, elopements, residents not properly restrained during wrecks.
F0880 – Infection Prevention & Control – 91 citations – 21.2% of Kansas providers
–Examples: Improper handwashing, gowning, gloving, or cleaning glucometers between each
resident.
F0884 – Reporting – National Health Safety Network [NHSN] – 128 citations – 19.2% of Kansas providers
–Examples: Inaccurate data reporting or not reporting at all.
State Licensed Only Top 3 Tag Citations – Year to Date
3026/5026 – Staff Treatment of Residents ANE – 12/3 citations – 52.2%/13% of Kansas providers – Top G+
5105 – Negotiated Service Agreement – 40 citations – 4.4% of Kansas providers
5230/3310 – Infection Control Policies – 40/33 citations – 4.4%/3.6% of Kansas providers
LeadingAge Kansas intends to present concerns related to the survey process and interactions with surveyors during the next Bethell hearing on October 22.
Fire Marshal Survey Interpretation for Locked Units
Means of egress and door locking arrangements has been a hot topic for nursing home providers recently as CMS and the KSFM continue to press the issue. Recently, a provider was surveyed by the Fire Marshal’s Office and received an immediate jeopardy for having a lock on the courtyard gate of their designated dementia care unit. We will continue to monitor how this tag is upheld, but wanted other providers to be aware this may come up during survey.
As a reminder, any intermingling of residents does technically give the KSFM authority to issue a citation for special door locking arrangements. We’d recommend providers review their locking arrangements, especially in outdoor courtyard areas, ahead of their next survey. Reach out to Kylee Childs if you have recently encountered a survey experience related to means and egress and door locking arrangements with KSFM or have further questions.
HealthyBlue Contracts
We’ve heard from a few providers asking about the language related to Medicare Advantage in the Medicaid contracts being sent out from the newest MCO entering the market in January, HealthyBlue. If your organization has received the contract and does not wish to be part of their Medicare Advantage plan, you may communicate that with HealthyBlue and request a new contract specifically related to the Medicaid enrollment option only.
Additionally, there are components of the contract that reference the Member Provider Manual and providers adhering to the contents of it. LeadingAge Kansas reached out to HealthyBlue to ask when this manual would be available for provider review, and they stated the manual is still pending the State’s review and hoping to receive approval and post to their website within the next one to two weeks. This may be another component for providers to consider with entering the contract.
