Missouri Coalition for Quality Care (MCQC)

The Missouri Coalition for Quality Care (MCQC) is an organization working for the rights and protection of the elderly and the disabled. It offers many resources for people who care about someone living in a nursing home – or someone receiving in-home care – that feel frustrated or confused about long term care services.

Founded in 1987, MCQC now has a membership of over 700. Although the majority of the coalition members are Missourians, a portion of the members are from other states. They joined MCQC because of their concerns and interests in improving the quality of care and life for nursing home residents and recipients of in-home health care services.

MCQC maintains an informative website full of resources regarding long-term care issues. One particularly important part of their website is the page on “Elder Abuse and Neglect Hotline Calls.” The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (MDHSS) is required by law to maintain an Elder Abuse and Neglect Hotline, which can be reached toll-free at 1-800-392-0210. Any member of the general public can use this hotline. Anyone who has witnessed or suspects the abuse or neglect of an elderly or disabled individual is asked to report the incident to the State by using this hotline number. MDHSS employees will personally respond to the phone calls and are required to gather as much information about the abuse or neglect as possible from the caller. They will ask for the caller’s name; however, the choice to remain anonymous is acceptable. Phone calls are then evaluated and prioritized based upon their perceived severity. It is because of this hotline that many of the suspected abuse incidents in the state of Missouri have been investigated and resolved.

The MCQC website also includes information on classes of violations nursing homes may commit and federal fines that may be imposed. The following information includes these:

CLASS DEFINITIONS:

Class I: A violation which presents either an imminent danger to the health, safety or welfare of any resident or a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm would result. This is the most severe classification of State deficiencies. If an inspection results in any Class I violations, inspectors will revisit the facility within 20 days.

Class II: A violation which has a direct or immediate relationship to the health, safety or welfare of any resident, but which does not create any imminent danger. This is the intermediate classification of State deficiencies. If an inspection results in any Class II violations, but no Class I violation, inspectors will revisit the facility between 40 and 90 days.

Class III: A violation which has an indirect or a potential impact on the health, safety or welfare of any resident. This is the least severe classification of State deficiencies. If an inspection results in less than twenty Class III violations and no Class II or Class I violations, the facility is considered to be in substantial compliance and no revisits are required. These violations are not required to be corrected; therefore a correction date may not be displayed on the website. If an inspection results in twenty or more Class III violations and no Class II or Class I violations, inspectors will revisit the facility within 120 days.

Class I/II: This violation may be cited as a Class I or a Class II. It will be cited at the lower classification, Class II, unless there is sufficient evidence to support the more severe classification of Class I.

Class II/III: This violation may be cited as a Class II or a Class III. It will be cited at the lower classification, Class III, unless there is sufficient evidence to support the more severe classification of Class II.

FEDERAL FINES: The following is information related to fines that were imposed on Missouri Nursing Homes for violation of Federal health care standards. This information was obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

Please note that the information provided covers Federal fiscal years 2005, 2006 and a portion of Federal fiscal year 2007. Unlike state fiscal years which run from July 1 through June 30, Federal fiscal years run from October 1 through September 30. Therefore, Federal fiscal year 2005 starts on October 1, 2004 and ends September 30, 2005. Federal fiscal year 2006 starts on October 1, 2005 and ends September 30, 2006. However, the information provided for Federal fiscal year 2007 starts October 1, 2006 and ends April 30, 2007, the date MCQC requested the information on Federal fines. Fiscal year 2007 will be updated in October 2007.

Also please note that Federal code numbers are listed under the caption “Deficient Practices.” More information regarding the specific nature of the codes can be obtained by going to the website http://www.cms.hhs.gov but it is difficult to navigate. The reader can look up the actual nursing home violations that caused the Federal fine in the nursing home violation section of the MCQC website, www.mcqc.com . Federal fines are imposed by recommendation of the state of Missouri upon the issuance of a notice of noncompliance. It needs to be mentioned that some Federal fines were imposed for violations that occurred prior to the implementation of the MCQC website section on nursing home violations and therefore may not be listed.

Missouri Coalition for Quality Care needs as many members as possible to bring about change. Click the website at the bottom of this page to visit the “Become a Member” page. There is a membership form to complete, available at the website, and there is also a lifetime membership fee. For joining MCQC, you will receive a membership card, a letter welcoming you as a member, the most recent MCQC newsletter and all future newsletters, the MCQC brochure, information on issues concerning eldercare and the disabled, and you will also be part of an important organization working for the rights and protection of the disabled and elderly.

All of MCQC’s resources are available at no charge on their website, http://mcqc.com/.

http://mcqc.com/articles/eldercarehotlinereport.htm http://mcqc.com/joinus.htm