(a)  In the course of an investigation, the long-term care ombudsperson shall:

(1)  Make the necessary inquiries and obtain information as is deemed necessary;

(2)  Have access to facilities and residents; and

(3)  Enter facilities and, after notifying the person in charge, inspect any books, files, medical records, or other records that pertain to the resident.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 42-66.7-7

  • Facilities: include , but are not limited to, nursing homes, intermediate care facilities, extended care facilities, convalescent homes, rehabilitation centers, home care agencies, homes for the aged, veterans' homes, boarding homes, and adult supportive care, residential care and assisted living residences. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-66.7-3
  • Facility: means any facility or institution, home care provider or home nursing care provider, whether public or private, offering health or health related services for the institutionalized elderly, and which is subject to regulation, visitation, inspection, or supervision by any government agency. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-66.7-3
  • Health oversight agency: means , for the purposes of this chapter, the office of healthy aging or the person or entity designated as the state's long-term care ombudsperson by the director of the office of healthy aging, including the employees or agents of such person or entity, when they are acting to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of the state's long-term care ombudsperson program in which health information is necessary to oversee the health system and in accordance with the U. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-66.7-3
  • Ombudsperson: means the person or persons designated by the director. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-66.7-3
  • Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
  • Person: means any individual, trust, or estate, partnership, limited liability corporation, corporation (including associations, joint stock companies, and insurance companies), state, or political subdivision or instrumentality of a state. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-66.7-3
  • Resident: means any person age sixty (60) years of age or older who is receiving treatment, care, or housing in any facility in all of its aspects including, but not limited to, admission, retention, confinement, period of residence, transfer, discharge, and in any instances directly related to that status. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-66.7-3

(b)  In the ordinary course of the long-term care ombudsperson’s duties, the long-term care ombudsperson shall have access to residents of a facility to:

(1)  Visit, talk with, make personal, social, and other appropriate services available;

(2)  Inform them of their rights and entitlements and corresponding obligations under federal and state law by distribution of educational materials, discussion in groups, or discussion with individual residents and their families; and

(3)  Engage in other methods of assisting, advising, and representing residents to extend to them the full enjoyment of their rights.

(c)  The office of the long-term care ombudsperson is considered a health oversight agency.

(d)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a health oversight agency, and its employees and agents, shall comply with all state and federal confidentiality laws, including, but not limited to, chapter 37.3 of Title 5 (Confidentiality of Health Care Communications and Information Act) and specifically subsection 5-37.3-4(c), which requires limitation on the distribution of information which is the subject of this chapter on a “need to know” basis, and § 40.1-5-26.

History of Section.
P.L. 1995, ch. 92, § 1; P.L. 2003, ch. 55, § 1; P.L. 2003, ch. 74, § 1; P.L. 2006, ch. 361, § 1; P.L. 2006, ch. 501, § 1.