(1) "Deficiency" means a violation or alleged violation by a long-term care facility of applicable state or federal laws, rules, or regulations governing the operation or licensure of a long-term care facility;

(2) "Deficiency tag number" means an alphanumeric designation of a deficiency by the Office of Long-Term Care that denotes the applicable state or federal rule, regulation, or law allegedly violated and that is used on the statement of deficiencies;

(3)

(A) "Impartial decision maker" means an individual employed by a state agency to conduct an informal dispute resolution hearing for the agency.

(B) "Impartial decision maker" does not include an individual who is presently or has been within the previous twenty-four (24) months actively involved in any survey process under the Department of Human Services;

(4) "Informal dispute resolution" means a nonjudicial process or forum before an impartial decision maker that provides a facility cited for deficiency with the opportunity to dispute a citation for deficiency;

(5) "Long-term care facility" has the same meaning as under § 20-10-213;

(6) "Party" means a facility requesting an informal dispute resolution hearing or the office, or both;

(7) "State survey agency" means the Office of Long-Term Care, which is the federally designated state entity that performs Medicaid and Medicare surveys and inspections of Arkansas long-term care facilities; and

(8)

(A) "Statement of deficiencies" means a statement prepared by the office citing the applicable state or federal laws, rules, or regulations violated by a long-term care facility and the facts supporting the citation.

(B) A statement of deficiencies may also be referred to as a "2567".