NC DHSR NHLCS: Guidelines for Facility Participation on Informal Dispute Resolution (IDR) Panel

Guidelines for Facility Participation on Informal Dispute Resolution (IDR) Panel

Nursing facility panelists for the Informal Dispute Resolution (IDR) process will be members of the North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association (NCHCFA) Standards and Ethics Committee, exclusively, members of the LeadingAge North Carolina , and state-operated nursing home representatives.

Members of the Standards and Ethics Committee who wish to serve as an IDR panelist must be licensed as an administrator or registered nurse, and work as staff in a skilled nursing facility. They may not work in that facility's corporate offices or perform consulting work for the facility. An individual's appointment to the NCHCFA Standards and Ethics Committee is conditioned on signing a confidentiality and conflict of interest statement related to future IDR panel participation.

Members of the LeadingAge N.C. who wish to serve as an IDR panelist must be a department head working in a skilled nursing facility. They may not work in that facility's corporate offices or perform consulting work for the facility. An individual's appointment to serve as an IDR panelist is conditioned on signing a confidentiality and conflict of interest statement.

State-operated nursing home representatives who wish to serve as an IDR panelist must be a department head working in a skilled nursing facility and have at least five years experience in a state operated nursing facility. They may not perform consulting work for the facility. An individual's appointment to serve as an IDR panelist is conditional on signing a confidentiality and conflict of interest statement.

The confidentiality and conflict of interest statement will be signed and maintained on file with the DHSR IDR coordinator, the NCHCFA office, the LeadingAge N.C. office, and the neuro-medical treatment center team leader office. The confidentiality and conflict of interest statement provides the following parameters for the individuals' participation as an IDR panel member:

exclude an individual’s participation on an IDR panel where the panel is reviewing the results of a facility survey where the individual worked in the previous two years. The conflict of interest statement would exclude individuals with immediate family members that are residents or employees of the facility. The statement would also exclude individuals who worked in any facility that was owned or operated by the same multi-facility entity within the past two years. Other apparent conflicts of interest may result in exclusion from an IDR panel at the discretion of the DHSR management or the co-chairs of the Standards and Ethics Committee, the members of the LeadingAge N.C., or the Neuro-Medical Treatment Center Team Leader,
prohibit discussion of a facility's IDR, or any facts related to the contested deficiency or finding cited by a survey or complaint investigation, outside of the convened DHSR IDR panel with any individual with any connection to the facility that is the subject of the contested deficiency or finding. This includes facility staff members, corporate employees, consultants, or agents of the facility for which the IDR is being conducted. The IDR panelist may not contact or discuss any matters with any individual related or unrelated to the IDR or facility survey that is the subject of the IDR prior to or after the conclusion of the IDR process.

An orientation program developed by DHSR must be completed prior to serving on an IDR panel.

If a facility IDR panelist is unable to participate in a scheduled IDR due to conflict of interest or some other reason, DHSR, NCHCFA, LeadingAge N.C., and the neuro-medical treatment centers agree that a third surveyor will be selected for the three-member IDR panel.

NC Division of Health Service Regulation

Nursing Home Licensure and Certification Section

Guidelines for Facility Participation on Informal Dispute Resolution (IDR) Panel