Page 68 - Ombudsman Participant Manual Optimized_Neat

be offered the opportunity to
participate.

The ombudsman is invited to attend

this meeting – and should. The

volunteer ombudsman can attend

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instead f the staff ombudsman or

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f

WITH the staff ombudsman.

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volunteer s involved with the facility –

they should ALWAYS be offered the

opportunity o participate.
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What do the survey meetings
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• Arrive least 15 minutes early

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• Let facility staff know that you are there to the exit meeting; ask location
attend

• Bring pen/notepad to jot information down

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• Introduce yourself to the surveyors & facility staff (and residents if at a nursing home)

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• The surveyors will convene the meeting and review the areas f “deficient practice”

• Jot down the information that they share – you do not need all the detail

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• We o not ask questions or offer any opinion; we are simply observing & recording.

• If your staff ombudsman is not present at the meeting, write a note summarizing the meeting and

share with them.
Sample summary of exit meeting

Your note on your documentation tool might look like this: “Attended exit meeting of survey at Happy Acres Nursing

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e
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Home. Three residents attended. Surveyors stated that the facility may cited for: temperatures meals,
temperatures water showers (water temp was found to b e cool), medication administrations (missing doctor

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n
too

orders for prescriptions) and staffing levels. If entering this activity into WellSky Ombudsman, you would enter it under

“Program Activities participation in facility survey”.

–
Some other things to know

The summary information provided at exit includes “possible” citations – the survey team sends their report to their

supervisor and then a final summary is sent to the facility later. Survey teams generally do not share “scope & severity” at

the time of exit – meaning: was it a widespread problem or an isolated incident? Was there actual harm to a resident or

just the potential for harm? This information will be included in the final, written report sent to the facility. Typically, the

facility must respond to that written report and develop a plan of correction – explaining how they will correct the

deficiencies y the established deadline. f the facility fails to bring the practices into compliance, there could be licensing
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action taken against them by the regulatory agency (fines, provisional license, admission ban, etc.)

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Survey results for both PCHs and NHs are eventually available the licensing agencies website. However, there

significant delay in the posting of that information as the final survey and plan of correction are not finalized for several

weeks after the conclusion of the survey. Website address for DHS: https://www.humanservices.state.pa.us . Website

address for DOH: www.health.state.pa.gov .
The process for locating the survey results is different for each website.

Consult your local coordinator or Regional Ombudsman for assistance.

In rare instances, a survey team may decide that there is a situation of “Immediate Jeopardy” – meaning that the+

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situation o severe that the residents are at immediate, serious risk. f that is ever discussed at an exit meeting that you

attend, you need to contact your program office/AAA immediately and report the situation.

Office of the LTC Ombudsman
Office of the LTC Ombudsman
1.0
September
Version 1.0 September 2020 2020
Version
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