We are moving ever closer to the deadline before which facilities must submit all outstanding patient data or face potential fines. That deadline is March 31st.

We at AHCA know most facilities do a fantastic job of submitting their discharge data on time. Unfortunately, a small number of facilities have not taken the steps necessary to submit their data in a timely manner. This is not only detrimental to the Agency’s transparency efforts; it is unfair to the more than 1,000 facilities making a good-faith effort to report their data on time.

Florida’s statutes and administrative rules provide for recourse in such situations. That recourse is to levy fines against delinquent facilities. Few facilities have reason to be concerned about fines. Using the submission rates of the past few quarters, no inpatient facilities and very few outpatient facilities would have been subject to fines under the rules. Even then, the majority of those facilities that would have qualified for a fine would find the Agency lenient in negotiating a settlement so long as the facility displayed a commitment to getting their data certified and addressing submission process deficiencies.

Fine Structure

The governing administrative rules provide that all facilities whose data is not certified by the Certification Deadline be subject to these fines. Applicable fines are for: $100 per day for the first violation, $250 per day for the second violation and $1,000 per day for the third and all subsequent violations. The Agency defines fining violations as:

In other words, per day fine amounts increase as a facility accrues more delinquent quarters at the same time, not as their outstanding quarters get more delinquent.

Grandfather Period

The Agency will begin to levy fines for delinquent discharge data files on April 1, 2009. This date corresponds with the first day after the deadline for facilities to have 3rd Quarter 2008 data certified. All facilities whose 3rd Quarter 2008 data is not certified by March 31 will begin accruing fines on April 1. Additionally, all facilities with outstanding data from previous quarters will begin to accrue fines on April 1 (facilities with two outstanding quarters will begin to accrue at $250/day, and facilities with three outstanding quarters will begin to accrue at $1,00o/day). Facilities with delinquent data can avoid accruing fines by getting their data certified by March 31, 2009.

While it is our hope that we will never collect a fine for discharge data reporting delinquency, fines serve as a last resort when all other efforts to obtain that data have failed. However, it is not through fines that we will achieve excellence - only though working together can we do great things. Let us know if you have any questions.

AHCA Patient Data Collection