(1) (a) The department shall develop and implement a consumer satisfaction survey based on the results of the pilot survey implemented pursuant to paragraph (a.5) of this subsection (1). The pilot survey and the resulting consumer satisfaction survey shall be implemented to determine the level of satisfaction among residents and residents' families regarding the quality of care and quality of living in nursing facilities. "Nursing facility", as used in this section, means a nursing facility as defined in section 25.5-4-103 (14), C.R.S. The department shall appoint an advisory committee to develop the consumer satisfaction survey. The advisory committee shall include, but not be limited to, the state ombudsman, representatives of senior groups, representatives of the disabled community, representatives of providers of long term care services, and long term care consumers or their family members. The advisory committee shall develop recommendations for the development of an assessment tool for the consumer satisfaction survey and shall develop recommendations for the implementation of the pilot survey and the consumer satisfaction survey. The advisory committee shall ensure that a representative sample of participants are chosen and surveyed in a manner that will yield accurate and useful results. The department shall ensure that every nursing facility licensed by the department participates in the assessment of consumer satisfaction; except that any nursing facility that accepts exclusively private pay residents shall not be required to participate. Information about results of the most recent consumer satisfaction survey and how such survey was conducted shall be included by the facility in all informational materials provided to persons who inquire about the facility. The department shall assure confidentiality for residents during the survey process. The department shall make the results of consumer satisfaction surveys available to the public.
(a.5) (I) The department shall develop and implement a pilot consumer satisfaction survey to aid in the determination of the level of satisfaction among residents and residents' families regarding the quality of care and quality of living in nursing facilities. The pilot survey shall be used exclusively for the development of the consumer satisfaction survey to be implemented pursuant to paragraph (d) of this subsection (1) and shall not be used to penalize any participating facility. The pilot survey shall be used to assess:
The validity of the questionnaire for use in the consumer satisfaction survey implemented pursuant to paragraph (d) of this subsection (1);
The nursing facilities residents' cognition levels in order to determine the ability ofthe residents to complete the survey in a meaningful manner;
The techniques employed to obtain the number of completed survey questionnairesneeded to achieve a statistical validity of plus or minus ten percent on the final consumer satisfaction survey; and
The survey data to ensure that such data is meaningful to consumers.
The pilot survey shall involve the participation of no more than ten percent of allnursing facilities licensed by the department. The department shall select nursing facilities to participate in the pilot survey based on characteristics including, but not limited to, the rural or urban location of the facilities, and the cross-section of the resident population of the facilities. Facilities that volunteer to participate in the pilot survey shall be given priority in the selection process so long as the required characteristics are met.
(A) The individual nursing facility results of the pilot survey shall be confidentialand not made available to the public; except that each nursing facility shall be provided with the pilot survey results from its own facility.
(B) Aggregate statistical results of the pilot survey may be made available to the public. (C) Repealed.
(IV) Repealed.
The consumer satisfaction survey shall be easy to understand so that each resident orresident's family member or representative who participates may fill out the survey unassisted; except that the department or its designated representative may assist a resident or resident's family with filling out the survey. Nursing facility volunteers and employees shall be prohibited from assisting participants with the completion of the survey. The names of the participants in the survey shall be kept confidential, and all surveys shall be returned directly to the department.
Repealed.
The department shall administer the consumer satisfaction survey based on the recommendations of the advisory committee in all licensed nursing facilities that are required to participate in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subsection (1). The department shall commence implementation of the survey on or before July 1, 2003. After the pilot survey is complete, the department shall evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot survey instruments, adopt any recommendations, and continue to survey all licensed facilities on a three-year cycle with one-third of the participating licensed nursing facilities completing the initial survey in one of the three years. Each participating licensed nursing facility shall perform a new consumer satisfaction survey every three years thereafter; except that the department may require, or a participating licensed nursing facility may request, that a new consumer satisfaction survey be performed more often if conditions warrant. If the licensed nursing facility requests such a survey, the department shall perform the survey if the licensed nursing facility pays the department for the costs associated with performing the survey. A licensed nursing facility may comment on the results of a consumer satisfaction survey and have such comments included in any publication or distribution of the results by the department.
Hospice residents and their family members and transitional care unit residents andtheir family members, shall be exempt from participation in the pilot survey and consumer satisfaction survey conducted in each nursing facility.
Nursing facilities shall release the name, address, and telephone number of each family member or party responsible for a nursing facility resident to the department for the sole use of conducting the pilot survey and the consumer satisfaction survey.
(2) (a) The department shall respond to a complaint from a nursing facility resident or resident's family member or representative within five working days after receipt of the complaint and, for sixty days after the date the department received the complaint, the department shall update the complainant on the status of the complaint investigation at least every fourteen days until the complaint is resolved and an investigation is finalized. If the complaint is not resolved within sixty days after the date the department received the complaint, the department shall continue to update the complainant on the status of the complaint every thirty days until the complaint is resolved and an investigation report is resolved and an investigation is finalized. At the request of the complainant, the department shall not maintain such contact.
(b) (I) The state and local long-term care ombudsman, established pursuant to article 11.5 of title 26, C.R.S., in compliance with the federal "Older Americans Act of 1965", ("ombudsman") shall refer to the state department for investigation and resolution all complaints received by the ombudsman involving possible licensure violations in nursing homes that are exclusively private pay facilities.
(II) Information about the ombudsman, including the ombudsman's role in dealing with resident complaints and all contact information and telephone numbers for the ombudsman, shall be included in the information provided to a resident upon admission to a facility that is not a private pay facility.
Source: L. 2001: Entire section added, p. 1222, § 1, effective June 5. L. 2002: (1)(a) and
(1)(d) amended and (1)(a.5), (1)(e), and (1)(f) added, p. 1924, § 1, effective June 7; (1)(a.5)(III)(C) repealed, p. 1935, § 4, effective July 1. L. 2004: (1)(c) repealed, p. 471, § 1, effective August 4. L. 2005: (1)(a.5)(IV) repealed, p. 279, § 12, effective August 8. L. 2006: (1)(a) amended, p. 2014, § 87, effective July 1.
Cross references: For the "Older Americans Act of 1965", see Pub.L. 89-73, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 3001 et seq.