Long Term Care Regulations in Maryland

Maryland law covers many of the aspects of long-term care. Most of the regulations can be found in Title 10 -- Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, subtitle 7 -- Hospitals. While many of the regulations concern minutiae, below are some of the major areas concerning long-term care covered in the law.

License Required

• All long-term care facilities need to be licensed by the state. The license is valid for two years unless it is revoked. Different facilities on the same premise, even if the facilities are within the same building, require separate licenses. When the license has been applied for or is up for renewal, the notice must be conspicuously posted for at least 50 days prior to the license issuance to give interested parties a chance to weigh in about the license.

Licensed Bed Capacity

• The state will determine the bed capacity for the long-term care center, which the facility must abide by, unless given permission by the state to exceed the capacity. Such permission will be specific as to the conditions that must exist for the facility to exceed the licensed capacity and by how much it can exceed that capacity. If the facility does exceed its licensed capacity, it much still provide residents with all of the same services and equipment as other residents.

Administration

• Each long-term care facility needs an administrator who is licensed by the Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators who is responsible for enforcing the Patient's Bill of Rights. When the administrator is not present, the director of nursing is next in line of authority. The administrator is expected to 'be of good moral character, in good physical and mental health, and shall demonstrate a genuine interest in the well-being and welfare of patients in the facility," according to state law.

Resident Care

• Staff is expected to be trained in resident care and to also receive regular in-service training in issues related to resident care. At a minimum, the training needs to include prevention and control of infections; fire prevention programs and patient related safety procedures in emergency situations or conditions; accident prevention; confidentiality of patient information; preservation of patient dignity, including protection of the patient's privacy and personal and property rights; and psychophysical and psychosocial needs of the aged ill.

Admission and Discharge

• Long-term care facilities cannot discriminate in admitting or providing care to individuals because of race, color, national origin, or physical or mental handicap. If a patient is transferred from the facility for any reason, the attending physician and guardian need to be notified. Patients can't be denied admission or involuntarily discharged if they have a communicable disease, but the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene needs to notified if such an admission is being made. The Secretary of Health will then make a determination is the admission or discharge should be allowed or not.

Resident Care Policies

• Written policies must be maintained relating to medical and other services the long-term care facility provides. Patient care policies are developed with the principal physician and at least one registered nurse. The policies then need to be reviewed annually and updated if need be. Copies of the policies need to be readily available to staff.