Missouri Coalition for Quality Care: Violations and Fines- Sheryl Adams

Missouri Coalition for Quality Care: Violations and Fines
The Missouri Coalition for Quality Care (MCQC) is an organization devoted to providing safety and services to the elderly and disabled living in long-term care facilities. MCQC has a membership of over 700, which consists mainly of Missourians. People from other states have joined this organization because of their interest and concern in advocating for nursing home residents and ensuring their best quality of care and quality of life. Visit mcqc.com for more information.
The following information includes the Classes of Violations nursing homes may commit and descriptions of federal fines that may be imposed, respectively.
CLASS DEFINITIONS
Class I
A violation which presents either an imminent danger to the health, safety or welfare of any resident or a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm would result. This is the most severe classification of State deficiencies. If an inspection results in any Class I violations, inspectors will revisit the facility within 20 days.
Class II
A violation which has a direct or immediate relationship to the health, safety or welfare of any resident, but which does not create any imminent danger. This is the intermediate classification of State deficiencies. If an inspection results in any Class II violations, but no Class I violation, inspectors will revisit the facility between 40 and 90 days.
Class III
A violation which has an indirect or a potential impact on the health, safety or welfare of any resident. This is the least severe classification of State deficiencies. If an inspection results in less than twenty Class III violations and no Class II or Class I violations, the facility is considered to be in substantial compliance and no revisits are required. These violations are not required to be corrected; therefore a correction date may not be displayed on the website. If an inspection results in twenty or more Class III violations and no Class II or Class I violations, inspectors will revisit the facility within 120 days.
Class I/II
This violation may be cited as a Class I or a Class II. It will be cited at the lower classification, Class II, unless there is sufficient evidence to support the more severe classification of Class I.
Class II/III
This violation may be cited as a Class II or a Class III. It will be cited at the lower classification, Class III, unless there is sufficient evidence to support the more severe classification of Class II.

FEDERAL FINES
The following is information related to fines that were imposed on Missouri Nursing Homes for violation of Federal health care standards. This information was obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.
Please note that the information provided covers Federal fiscal years 2005, 2006 and a portion of Federal fiscal year 2007. Unlike state fiscal years which run from July 1 through June 30, Federal fiscal years run from October 1 through September 30. Therefore, Federal fiscal year 2005 starts on October 1, 2004 and ends September 30, 2005. Federal fiscal year 2006 starts on October 1, 2005 and ends September 30, 2006. However, the information provided for Federal fiscal year 2007 starts October 1, 2006 and ends April 30, 2007, the date MCQC requested the information on Federal fines. Fiscal year 2007 will updated in October 2007.
Also please note that Federal code numbers are listed under the caption “Deficient Practices.” More information regarding the specific nature of the codes can be obtained by going to the website www.cms.hhs.gov but it is difficult to navigate.
The reader can look up the actual nursing home violations that caused the Federal fine in the nursing home violation section of the MCQC website, www.mcqc.com . Federal fines are imposed by recommendation of the state of Missouri upon the issuance of a notice of noncompliance. It needs to be mentioned that some Federal fines were imposed for violations that occurred prior to the implementation of the MCQC website section on nursing home violations and therefore may not be listed. The start date for the MCQC section is January 1, 2005. If you need help, contact us at info@mcqc.com.