NH-DAL-13-03 - REVISED: Electronic Plan of Correction (EPOC)

February 3, 2013

DAL: NH-DAL-13-03 - REVISED: Electronic Plan of Correction (EPOC)

Dear Administrator:

In an effort to streamline communications with nursing homes, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) implemented an electronic Plan of Correction (EPOC) application, effective August 1, 2013. The EPOC application will automate the distribution of Statements of Deficiency (SODs) and the receipt of Plans of Correction (POCs), and will ultimately eliminate the need to send hardcopy SODs/POCs by conventional postal mail and/or fax. The EPOC application is accessible via the Health Commerce System (HCS). EPOC is available for nursing homes for surveys with an exit date after 7/24/2013, and also is available to Transitional Care Units (TCUs) and Adult Day Health Care Programs (ADHCP) for surveys with an exit date after 9/15/2013.

1. Provider Training

Was provided through 20 webinars in July 2013, and a copy of the webinar can be found at: https://nysdoh.webex.com/nysdoh/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=TC&rID=62658282&act=pb&rKey=345c65de711014ea
Also, a Provider User Manual and training videos clips are available when entering the EPOC application on the HCS.

2. HCS Coordinators must update your nursing home's HCS roles now

Provider access to the application is determined by HCS roles. The current HCS roles of the Administrator and Director of Nursing will be able to read SODs, and write/submit POCs to NYSDOH. A new Operator role has been established to allow operators to read SODs/POCs. Also, a new EPOC Editor role has been established to allow administrative staff to read SODs and write POCs. The HCS Coordinator of each nursing home is required to keep HCS role information current (e.g., Administrator, Director of Nursing, Operator and EPOC Editor roles). Your nursing home's HCS Coordinator must regularly review and update the staff in each role including their associated email address to ensure EPOC is successful.

  • The new Operator role represents a change in NYSDOH policy. In the past, SODs have been sent directly to agency operators and the agency administrators have been secondary recipients. With EPOC the nursing home administrators will be the primary recipient of the SODs. It will be the responsibility of the nursing home administrator to communicate SODs to any governing authority or operating organization; nursing homes must develop the necessary policies and procedures to ensure that such communication occurs. The Operator role was created to facilitate nursing homes with providing access to the SODs/ POCS by individuals representing the governing authority or operator.

3. EPOC is required for nursing homes, Transitional Care Units (TCUs) and Adult Day Health Care Programs (ADHCP)

These programs are able to log onto the HCS, and add "EPOC" to the "My applications" list (click on Applications; click on "e"; and click on the "+" next to EPOC). For more information see the Quick Start Guide as attached.

We look forward to your partnership in the EPOC project. Any questions can be sent to epoc@health.state.ny.us. Trained representatives will assist providers with all questions on the ePOC process.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Pappalardi, Director
Division of Nursing Homes and ICF/IID Surveillance