Reporting maltreatment in a Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) licensed facility
All facilities licensed by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) are to report in accordance with the requirements in MS 626.557. In addition, any federally certified Skilled Nursing Facilities/Nursing Facilities (SNFs/NFs), Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs), Nursing Facilities (NFs), and hospitals with swing beds, have additional reporting requirements imposed by federal law.
The federal regulations require that incidents of the following nature be reported to MDH within 24 hours of discovery: abuse, neglect, mistreatment, misappropriation of resident property, and injuries of unknown origin.
Reports of these incidents must be made to MDH via electronic notification. Specific instructions for how the reports are to be made are contained in MDH Information Bulletin 08-04 “Required Electronic Notification to MDH Via the Web for Reporting Incidents Within 24 Hours of the Incident’s Discovery, as required at 42 CFR 483.13c(2) and for timely submission of the facility’s investigative reports as required at 42 CFR 483.13 c(4).”
Facilities report to MDH via a secure web site. Each facility has received from MDH a user identification number, password, and instructions for filing an initial report and investigative report via the electronic system.
When the initial report related to the incident is made, a tracking number will automatically be assigned to the incident and the facility will receive a message, including the incident tracking number, confirming receipt of the report. Print this confirmation and retain it in your incident reporting files.
A mandated reporter must also submit a report to the Common Entry Point (CEP) to make an oral report of the incident, if reportable under the VAA. Effective August 1, 2009 an exception to oral reporting to the CEP is granted to the following Providers: A boarding care home that is licensed undersections MS 144.50 to 144.58 and certified under Title 19 of the Social Security Act, a nursing home that is licensed under section MS 144A.02 and certified under Title 18 or Title 19 of the Social Security Act, or a hospital that is licensed under sections MS 144.50 to 144.58 and has swing beds certified under Code of Federal Regulations, title 42, section 482.66. For these providers the report may be a duplicate of the initial report the facility submits electronically to the commissioner of health to comply with the reporting requirements under Code of Federal Regulations, title 42, section 483.13.
While this may initially appear as a duplication of effort, it is required by State law and the CEP has the added responsibility to forward the report to law enforcement if there is a suspected crime and to assess for the need of emergency protective services.
To see a detailed comparison of Federal and State requirements and definitions, click the link below:
Comparison of Federal and State Requirements/Definitions PDF
NOTICE REGARDING PDF FILES: You will need the Acrobat Reader version 5.0 or higher to view PDF documents. Download PDF viewer.