198.525. Inspection of certain long-term care facilities, when--restrictions on surveyors, required disclosures--immediate family member defined--conflict of interest, when.

MISSOURI STATUTES AND CODES

198.525. Inspection of certain long-term care facilities, when--restrictions on surveyors, required disclosures--immediate family member defined--conflict of interest, when.

Inspection of certain long-term care facilities, when--restrictions onsurveyors, required disclosures--immediate family memberdefined--conflict of interest, when.

198.525. 1. Except as otherwise provided pursuant to section198.526, in order to comply with sections 198.012 and 198.022, thedepartment of health and senior services shall inspect residential carefacilities, assisted living facilities, intermediate care facilities, andskilled nursing, including those facilities attached to acute carehospitals at least twice a year.

2. The department shall not assign an individual to inspect or surveya long-term care facility licensed under this chapter, for any purpose, inwhich the inspector or surveyor was an employee of such facility within thepreceding two years.

3. For any inspection or survey of a facility licensed under thischapter, regardless of the purpose, the department shall require everynewly hired inspector or surveyor at the time of hiring or, with respect toany currently employed inspector or surveyor as of August 28, 2009, todisclose:

(1) The name of every Missouri licensed long-term care facility inwhich he or she has been employed; and

(2) The name of any member of his or her immediate family who hasbeen employed or is currently employed at a Missouri licensed long-termcare facility.

The disclosures under this subsection shall be disclosed to the departmentwhenever the event giving rise to disclosure first occurs.

4. For purposes of this section, the phrase "immediate family member"shall mean husband, wife, natural or adoptive parent, child, sibling,stepparent, stepchild, stepbrother, stepsister, father-in-law,mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law,grandparent or grandchild.

5. The information called for in this section shall be a publicrecord under the provisions of subdivision (6) of section 610.010, RSMo.

6. Any person may notify the department if facts exist that wouldlead a reasonable person to conclude that any inspector or surveyor has anypersonal or business affiliation that would result in a conflict ofinterest in conducting an inspection or survey for a facility. Uponreceiving that notice, the department, when assigning an inspector orsurveyor to inspect or survey a facility, for any purpose, shall take stepsto verify the information and, if the department has probable cause tobelieve that it is correct, shall not assign the inspector or surveyor tothe facility or any facility within its organization so as to avoid anappearance of prejudice or favor to the facility or bias on the part of theinspector or surveyor.