Continuing Care Risk Retention Group

Why Site Visits are Important

Bob Bates • April 11, 2024

Tapping Into Our Expertise and Experience

Site visits used to be a common and standard benefit offered to long term care facility clients by their insurance companies.  However, most insurance companies have stopped conducting site visits due to their expense –often in an effort to serve their shareholders, by cutting costs –but not so with Continuing Care. 


At Magnolia LTC/Continuing Care RRG, we are proud to say that we are one of very few companies that still provide this high-touch benefit and service to our clients.  While we understand that some operators might have anxiety about having a site visit, please know that site visits, as performed by employees of Magnolia LTC, are not invasive and are meant to put your mind at ease –they are not meant to “catch” you or your team.  And, while site visits do cost money, we believe that they actually save our clients money in the long run in several ways. 


I am the Human Resources and Risk Management Director for a nursing home management company. We oversee 5 administrators, over 300 patients and over 375 employees. Steve Ottenbrite, Director of Risk Management, Magnolia LTC., has been very helpful and resourceful when it comes to assisting me with situations that have come up. I like that they come in and conduct their walk throughs, answer questions that I might have or need help with. Even with the pandemic they were still able to assist me and my staff over the phone or via email.  –Caravan Operations


First, site visits are a way for us to build our relationship with our clients.  Since we view ourselves as your long-term partner in business, we know that we both share the same goal:  to provide the best care and service possible to your residents.  Thus, excellent customer service is at the cornerstone of our work with you and we understand that being accessible and available to our clients is important.  We want you to know who you are doing business with, who is at the other end of the phone when you call, and who you will be working with in the event of a claim.   


The Long Term Care industry is a small one full of many nuances and if you are not a part of this industry you probably don’t understand it. CCRRG knows and understands this industry…I do not have to explain anything to them; not the medicine, not how LTC is different than a hospital, not the survey process, not the documentation, nothing! They know the industry. Simply put Stephen and Kelene are the people I want to work with not the people I am forced to work with.  –Prestige Healthcare


Second, site visits allow us to learn more about your business and to stay up-to-date on any changes to your business that may impact your liability exposure –invoking the old axiom “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  This ultimately allows us to ensure that you are not only adequately and appropriately covered, but we are also able to better tailor your coverage. We understand that LTC policies are sophisticated and expensive and that you need to make sure that you are properly covered, while also not paying for coverage that you don’t need.   


Third, we can offer you advice from 20 years of experience with Continuing Care, working with hundreds of facilities, as well as the decades of experience many of our staff have from previously running LTC facilities.  We can provide you with best practices, an extensive library of proactive interventions, continuing education for your healthcare and administrative staff, and feedback to help minimize your facility’s risk and exposure which can, again, provide significant cost savings by helping to prevent accidents and lawsuits.  With our expertise, you can better protect and serve your clients. 


Magnolia is one of the most innovative program managers we’ve worked with. Their deep knowledge of Long Term Care is unmatched and we find ourselves continuing to turn to them when we have questions about the long term care space. They are a perfect partner and a pleasure to work with.  –AI Insurance


Partner with us so you can tap into our expertise for the betterment of your facility today! 


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FOUR THINGS A LONG-TERM-CARE FACILITY SHOULD NEVER DO IF NAMED IN A CLAIM

February 17, 2022
If your long-term care facility is named in a claim, or you have reason to believe that it will happen, there are four things you absolutely must not do. You may want to respond right away in order to ensure a victory, but these actions are not only against the rules of civil procedure, but they can also do a lot of damage to your side and result in the loss of a claim or increase in value of the claim. Avoid contacting the resident, their family members or their attorney. Once a matter has gotten to this stage, it should be your insurance company's legal representative who engages the other side. Malpractice allegations have high stakes, and trying to reach out may create further complications in terms of the scope of your evidence. Even a seemingly innocuous comment could be misconstrued and land your side in hot water. If you have concerns or comments you think are important be sure to tell your Defense Counsel and/or your Insurance Company. Do not alter resident records in any way. Ever. You may see an error in the record in hindsight or believe that a simple alteration will help your defense. It won't. Not only is tampering with documentary or any other form of evidence against the rules of civil procedure, but it will also be a black mark against you. It may destroy your credibility and make you look guilty of what the patient is alleging. Even worse, the other side may seek punitive damages (or up the amount of punitive damages they are asking for) against you. If there is a error in the record and your normal practice is to make a late entry be sure it is so identified. If entering a correction is not your normal practice, don’t do it. Do not release any medical/patient records or practice information to anyone before first consulting your insurance company or your attorney. There may be information that is not legally relevant to the matter, breaches privacy law and must be vetted, or needs to be flagged. All relevant documents will be exchanged by both sides during the discovery process. However, the insurance company or attorney may want to delay the timing of the disclosure of certain information in order to conduct further investigation, clarification, or crisis/information management before handing it over. Copy of the records should only be specific to the exact records requested per appropriately executed HIPPA approved release. A tip is to keep an exact copy of the medical records released and seal the copy with date and who released copy of the medical records and to whom the records were released to. Make sure that response to request for copy of medical records and in compliance with your facilities Medical Records Policy and Procedure Manual. Only speak about the claim with your insurance company claim representatives and/or your attorney. It can be extremely difficult not to talk to anyone, even your close friends or family members, about this serious, stressful event you are undergoing, and people may naturally ask questions. Do not give out ANY information about the claim, negotiations, or share your opinion about the facts of the case. Doing so makes it fair game for the other side to call your confidant as a witness against you. Be sure to discuss concerns or ask questions of you Defense Counsel and/or carrier. If you have questions about responding to a Medical Records request please feel free to contact Director of Claims at Magnolia LTC Phone (707) 571 7430.
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