"Hotlining"

My wife hates the recent trend of turning everything into a verb—“hotlining”. She’s an English major (actually, she would hate reading that, too, because she would say “I’ve already graduated so I have an English degree and I majored in English”) so she tends to get annoyed about such things. But I feel like the term “hotlining” has been around for a long time—and it certainly has been in the world of nursing homes.

In a previous post I discussed nursing home surveys and briefly mentioned that one type of survey is a “complaint” survey. Hotlining is often the impetus for a “complaint” survey. Missouri and Kansas each have departments set up to handle complaints made by residents, or families of residents, concerning care at a facility—in Kansas it’s the KS Department of Health and Environmentand the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services [800-842-0078] and in Missouri it’s the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services [800-392-0210]. For a more detailed review of Missouri’s reporting process and the results of reports, I would encourage you to check out their 2011 publication concerning reporting and abuse.


Once a complaint is made the appropriate department will need to determine if the issue is within its jurisdiction. If it is, an investigation will ensue. If the complaint has not been made anonymously then the reporter will receive, in writing, the conclusions of the investigation in addition to the publicly available survey, should a deficiency be found. Additionally, if the investigator finds concerns about the care provided to the resident victim, the state will take actions to attempt to correct or prevent such deficient treatment.


If you are concerned about the care either you or a loved is receiving at a long term care facility you have options. Whether it is talking to the administrator or director of nursing at the facility or contacting the state, there are ways to help ensure that quality care is being provided. And if you or a loved one has been injured by what you believe to be inadequate care at a nursing home facility you should contact an attorney experienced handling such matters, such as Tom or me, to learn about your legal options. -Ryan