TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – The Kansas state agency responsible for inspecting nursing homes did not correctly respond to problems uncovered in a federal government audit, but it has made some improvements in recent months, according to the agency’s officials.
The Office of Inspector General report estimated that the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services failed in 2014 to verify that 65 percent of the issues found during nursing home inspections had been corrected.
The office also determined that the state agency neglected to conduct inspections every 15 months, as it is required to do, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. The report said the most extended break between inspections was 18 months.
Patty Brown, the interim commissioner of the agency’s Survey, Certification and Credentialing Commission, said the staff had a misunderstanding about who was doing the desk review of the facility surveys, and they were not correctly following up. She noted the issues were fixed in early 2017.
“The change that occurred was that we now require providers to submit the evidence that shows that that plan has indeed been implemented and the deficiencies are corrected,” Brown said. “We will always go back and do an onsite revisit for serious deficiencies.”
