DOH Updates Nursing Home Incident Reporting Manual

A revised Nursing Home Incident Reporting Manual is now available to all skilled nursing facility staff responsible for reporting alleged violations of mistreatment, neglect, and abuse, including injuries of unknown source and misappropriation of resident property, to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). The manual is intended to provide clarification and guidance on what incidents are reportable and how they should be reported.

These revisions to the manual are the first since June 2012. They attempt to provide clearer guidance and use additional reporting scenarios to help staff determine if an incident is reportable to DOH.

DOH's interpretation of some incidents that have or have not been reported has, at times, been an issue, and members have been subject to questions raised by survey staff. We are interested to know if the revisions address member concerns and do indeed provide greater guidance and clarity.

Contact: Elliott Frost, efrost@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8832