Sec. 6. Promoting identification and reporting of potential abuse or neglect in long-term care facilities

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Section 1128I of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1320a–7j ) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary, in collaboration with the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, shall— compile a comprehensive list of diagnosis codes that may indicate potential physical or sexual abuse or neglect of the elderly; and develop a plan for reliance on data from claims under titles XVIII and XIX that contain 1 or more of those codes, for the purpose of identifying instances of potential physical or sexual abuse or neglect in facilities receiving reimbursement under such titles.

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall make such claims data available to State survey agencies to help verify compliance with Federal and State mandatory reporting laws. . Section 1128I of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1320a–7j ), as amended by subsection (a), is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: Beginning not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this subsection, a facility shall ensure that any staff of the facility who provide direct care (as defined in section 2011) to residents of the facility receive training on the signs and symptoms of potential abuse or neglect of the elderly. .

The Secretary, in collaboration with the Attorney General, shall evaluate the effectiveness of current protocols and, if warranted, recommend and implement improvements in those protocols, to encourage prompt reporting of suspected incidents of potential abuse or neglect to the appropriate law enforcement officials or adult protective services office, by State and Federal surveyors of Medicare and Medicaid covered entities. Not later than 180 days after the completion of the evaluation under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report containing the results of such evaluation, together with recommendations for improvements, including such legislation and administrative action as the Secretary determines appropriate.

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— update guidance, and, as necessary, issue new guidance to clarify for State survey and certification agencies the requirements applicable to facilities (as defined in section 483.5 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulations)) under part 483 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulations), to protect resident privacy and prohibit mental abuse or exploitation, specifically as it relates to exploitative photographs, audio and video recordings, and posting or sharing of such photographs or recordings on social media networks or through multimedia messages; and establish procedures to ensure that violations of the safety and privacy requirements applicable to facilities (as so defined) under part 483 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulations), which prohibit misuse of photographs, audio and video recordings, and the inappropriate posting or sharing of such photographs or recordings on social media networks or through multimedia messages, are reported by State survey agencies to law enforcement agencies, adult protective service agencies, and other relevant agencies and that such violations are recorded and tracked in the Automated Survey Processing Environment ( ASPEN ) and the ASPEN Complaints/Incident Tracking System ( ACTS ).

The guidance issued under paragraph

(1)shall clarify that enforcement penalties do not apply to the posting or sharing of such photographs or recordings that occurred solely for the purpose of documenting and promptly reporting, to the appropriate authorities, a case of abuse in a facility.

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42 USC 1320a–7j

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Sec. 6

Promoting identification and reporting of potential abuse or neglect in long-term care facilities

Cite42 USC 1320a–7j

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