(Oct. 24, 2025) – In early October, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment Bureau of Facilities and Licensing contacted several Kansas hospitals to inform them that approval of their risk management plans would be delayed because of the facility's use of Standard of Care Five. The Risk Management Program within Facilities and Licensing sought an opinion from the Kansas Healthcare Stabilization Fund on whether SOC 5 should be permitted, as it falls outside of state regulations found at K.A.R. 28-52-4. This week, KDHE Facilities and Licensing followed up with the same hospitals to report that SOC 5 will be permitted, but the risk management plan still must comply with state statutes and regulations.
The communication stated, "While SOC 5 is not specifically included within the Kansas Risk Management statutes or regulations (K.S.A.65-4921 et seq. and K.A.R. 28-54-1 et seq.), all Kansas-licensed providers are still required to maintain full compliance with all applicable Kansas Risk Management laws and regulations. Facilities may choose to include additional standards – such as SOC 5 – for internal quality improvement or organizational purposes; however, the inclusion of such standards does not replace or alter the statutory and regulatory requirements established by the State of Kansas. The KDHE Bureau of Facilities and Licensing will continue to review each plan for compliance with the statutory Standards of Care and related regulatory provisions." In other words, ratings given to individuals and/or the facility in the risk management process for clinical incidents must be given a SOC 1 through 4 rating. The SOC 5 can only be for non-clinical incidents that aren't reportable. Reach out to Larry Van Der Wege at lvanderwege@kha-net.org if you have any questions.
--Larry Van Der Wege