Weekly Q&A
Q: We had an abbreviated survey yesterday. One of the issues they came in on had to do with falls. The surveyor informed us that any resident that has 3 falls, regardless of the timeframe they occurred in, they must do an on-site. She specifically told us of another investigation where there were 3 falls with the same resident in a year’s time. This is new to me, do you know anything about this?
A: I spoke with the Department of Health regarding the falls and the timeline, as this information was new to me. There is no specific timeline, and the surveyor may have made a mistake. However, I was informed that DOH is conducting more random checks on residents who have experienced falls to gather data for improving their processes and potentially implementing changes. Please update me on the outcome of their visit concerning this matter.
Provider Follow-Up Response: Thanks for the feedback. The investigator was confident in letting us know that she was surprised by the directive she received to investigate the falls within the year’s timeframe. Her response was, “I just go where they tell me.”
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Q: I wanted to clarify regarding an interruption of water that will be occurring for the next 4 days. The resident’s were informed and I am aware that I have to complete an incident report. Is one report enough for entire interruption or does it have to be submitted daily?
A: It’s only necessary to submit the Drupal form one time if it’s a planned outage for one system. In addition to the Drupal form, you should notify the local DOH office via phone or email for planned outages in case they start to receive complaints about it. In addition, please ensure you provide detail in the Drupal submission about how residents will receive essential services during the shutdown.
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Q: Physicals/PPD’s (new staff hires) – can our registered nurse/health services director complete these or does it have to be our provider that follows our community?
A: The RN can do a PPD, but the physicals have to be signed off by a physician or nurse practitioner. Some ALs work with local doctor’s offices/urgent cares and send their employees to them to do both the physical and PPD- that’s an option if it is convenient for you.
NYSHFA | NYSCAL CONTACTS:
Christina Audi, MHA, LNHA
Executive Director, NYSCAL
caudi@nyshfa-nyscal.org
518-462-4800 x 13
