Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services
 
Board
State Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services
 
Guidance Document Change: The purpose of this memorandum is to remind DBHDS licensed providers of the requirements and expectations for reporting serious incidents to the DBHDS Office of Licensing, pursuant to 12VAC35-46-1070.C. and 12VAC35-105-160.D.2., including the timeframe for reporting incidents; the process for reporting incidents; the allowable timeframe for adding to, amending, or correcting information reported to the Office of Licensing through the Computerized Human Rights Information System (CHRIS); and to inform providers of the processes that the Office of Licensing will follow for issuing citations, repeat citations and sanctions for violations of serious incident reporting requirements. In addition to ensuring all providers understand the regulatory requirements associated with reporting incidents, the processes outlined in this memo are central to the department’s efforts to address compliance indicators related to serious incident reporting as mandated by the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Settlement Agreement with Virginia.
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7/21/20  3:41 pm
Commenter: Sean McGinnis, Hartwood Foundation, Inc.

Unreasonable reporting requirements
 

Focus of the provider community must continue to be on maintaining and promoting the health and safety of our service recipients and offering opportunities for personal growth and meaningful involvement in the community. Punishing a provider who may be operating multiple sites in supporting large numbers of individuals with complex health and safety support needs for reporting an incident outside the 24-hour period, especially when they have taken appropriate action to manage or resolve the incident, is simply unreasonable. One to two business days would, for a variety of reasons, make more practical sense. Further, the 48-hour time limit for updating a CHRIS report is also unreasonable. In many instances, it is extremely challenging to get information when an individual is hospitalized, some tests/diagnostics may be pending and test results may not be available.      

CommentID: 83994