Minnesota nursing home complaint response times better in 2019 — but still fall below federal guidelines

The Minnesota Health Department made improvements in 2019 in acting on the most serious nursing home complaints, but still failed to respond to 38% of complaints on time.

In a Thursday email to legislators, state officials, industry officials and elder advocates obtained by the Star Tribune, the department said it made the improvement amidst a 71% increase in complaints and reports that allege maltreatment so serious that they could present an ongoing risk to patients.

The department sent the email after the Star Tribune reported this week that its complaints investigation unit missed federally-mandated deadlines launching investigations in six out of 10 cases.

Federal guidelines require a response in serious maltreatment cases within two days. Response times averaged 13 days in 2018 and are now down to four days in the federal fiscal year that ended in September, the department said.

“We remain confident we are on the right path and we are seeing increasing signs of improvement,” Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said in the email.

At issue are what are known as “immediate jeopardy” complaints, which could include physicial and sexual assaults, systemic care issues like a pattern of medication errors or even cases where nursing home staff post pictures of residents on social media. Not all of these complaints are substantiated, but the two-day response threshold is intended to stop and prevent any future maltreatment.

In 2019 there were 429 immediate jeopardy cases, which include complaints from the public as well as reports made by the nursing homes. By comparison, there were 129 such cases in 2018, the department said.

Malcolm said the department was continuing to work on ways to better screen and track reports and was working with the federal government to meet federal timeline requirements. The department also received additional funding from the Legislature as part of an effort to improve state oversight of the elder care industry.

“We are using the new funding from the 2019 session to hire and train additional staff and continue the restructuring of our regulatory programs so we can respond more quickly and efficiently in all areas of the state,” Malcolm said.

Glenn Howatt • 612-673-7192 Twitter: @GlennHowatt

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