68-11-820 - Authority of panel or administrative judge Increasing, upholding or reducing amounts of penalties Consultation to determine medical necessity. - Tennessee Statutes

68-11-820. Authority of panel or administrative judge Increasing, upholding or reducing amounts of penalties Consultation to determine medical necessity.

(a)  Upon hearing a case or reviewing an initial order, the administrative judge, if sitting alone during a hearing, shall have the power to determine whether the imposition of any civil monetary penalty was proper and lawful, and, if so, whether the amount of the penalty was authorized by law and justified by the facts of the matter.

(b)  The administrative judge, when sitting alone, may find that no penalty should have been assessed; and, if so, the case shall be dismissed and the penalty abated.

(c)  When it finds that a civil penalty was properly assessed for a violation specified in §§ 68-11-801 68-11-805, the administrative judge, when sitting alone, may uphold the amount originally imposed, correct the amount of the assessment to conform with the law, or reduce the amount of the penalty, but the amount may be reduced only after considering the following factors:

     (1)  Those set forth in § 68-11-207(c);

     (2)  Whether the nursing home had recognized the violation, had voluntarily notified the department prior to any inspection, and had documented the correction of the violation within five (5) working days after the inspection;

     (3)  Whether the violation was an unintended and temporary consequence typical of the on-going operation of a health care facility, which had minimal impact upon the care of the patients; and

     (4)  Whether the nursing home has a dispute, made in good faith and not solely for the purposes of delay, regarding the commissioner's legal authority to impose an assessment.

[Acts 1987, ch. 312, § 2; 2000, ch. 978, § 2; 2008, ch. 824, §§ 4-6.]