Following our January 13 Survey Trends program, information is now available on the top 10 deficiencies in Virginia and nationally in recent years.

Kathaleen Creegan-Tedeschi, Director of the Long Term Care Division of the Office of Licensure and Certification (OLC) at the Department of Health provided VHCA with information on the top ten health and life safety deficiencies nationally and in Virginia. To review that information, click here.  Separately Ms. Creegan-Tedeschi provided a list of the top ten tags per complaint survey.

In reviewing the top ten deficiencies at Virginia facilities over time, Ms. Creegan-Tedeschi noted that many of the same tags appear on the list, but that the frequency and severity of the tags have shifted. She encourages VHCA and nursing centers to take the opportunity to carefully examine the underlying causes of this shift.

VHCA-VCAL associate member Mary Chiles of Chiles Health Care Consulting drew similar conclusions based on her analysis of the latest survey trends among VHCA members using the Survey Management Analysis and Resource Tool (SMART). Of note, SMART data show an increase in the number of surveys with at least one serious deficiency as well as the number of deficiencies cited as Immediate Jeopardy (IJ) through 2014.

We encourage members to participate in SMART, which offers members access to information and reports on survey outcomes and trends and patterns in the survey process in real time. If you’re not using SMART, please contact Kathy Robertson for your log-in information.

Help improve the data in SMART by submitting your 2567 Survey results for inclusion in the system. VHCA-VCAL has contracted with Chiles Healthcare Consulting to gather and analyze surveys and questionnaires. Please e-mail your 2567 reports with a copy of the letter you received from OLC letter to mary@chileshealthcare.com or mail hard copies to Chiles Healthcare Consulting, 1908 Maple Shade Lane, Richmond, VA 23227.

Resources [Some of these links are repeated from above]

• 2012-2015 Top Ten Deficiencies – Health (National and Virginia) and 2012-2015 Top Ten Deficiencies – Life Safety Code (National and Virginia) [Reports]
• 2013-2015 Top Ten Deficiencies per Complaint Survey (National)
• Virginia Top Ten Tags by Fiscal Year Comparison (FY 2010-2015) (includes number of citations for each tag)
• Access the latest SMART report on the SMART website under “Reports”