Communication Failure Delays Critical Lab Results
Summary
The facility failed to ensure effective communication between its staff and the contracted laboratory company, resulting in a delay in receiving critical laboratory results for a resident. The resident, who had episodes of vomiting, was assessed by the Nurse Practitioner (NP) who ordered a STAT complete blood count (CBC) to be drawn. The blood sample was collected and sent to the laboratory, which identified critically low hemoglobin and hematocrit levels. However, the results did not populate into the resident's electronic medical record, and the facility staff were not notified of the critical values. Interviews with facility staff revealed a breakdown in communication and follow-up procedures. The Minimum Data Set (MDS) Nurse Coordinator and the Director of Nursing (DON) were unaware of the critical lab results due to the failure of the results to appear in the electronic medical record. Additionally, there was no evidence that the laboratory had successfully communicated the critical results to the facility, as attempts to contact the facility were unsuccessful. The facility's staff, including the nurses on duty, did not recall being informed of the pending STAT labs or receiving any calls from the laboratory regarding the critical results. The contracted laboratory's Regional Service Representative confirmed that attempts were made to notify the facility of the critical lab results, but these attempts were unsuccessful. The laboratory was informed by a facility staff member that there was no resident by the name provided, and subsequent calls to the facility went unanswered. This lack of communication and follow-up resulted in the critical lab results not being addressed in a timely manner, which could have had significant implications for the resident's health.
Penalty
Resources
Below are regulatory guidelines relevant to this citation:
A resident with severe cognitive impairment, dementia, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia returned from the ED with an order to recheck a WBC the next day, but nursing staff failed to arrange the lab draw. The AVS was reviewed later, the missed order was discovered, and staff stated the charge nurse was responsible for checking post-visit orders and that the lab order had been overlooked.
Missed Ordered Laboratory Testing: The facility failed to obtain multiple ordered labs for several residents, including PT/INR monitoring for a resident transitioning from Eliquis to Coumadin with a Lovenox bridge, urinalyses for residents with suspected UTI/CAUTI, CBC/CMP testing, anticonvulsant levels, blood cultures, and an ammonia level. One resident developed active bleeding with critically abnormal lab values and died in the facility while bleeding from multiple sites. The record also showed several ordered tests were not found or were not completed as ordered.
A resident with an abdominal surgical incision and left flank wound had a wound culture ordered after green drainage was noted from the wound vac, along with IV vancomycin and aztreonam. The culture was cancelled because the wrong tube was used, the wound was not re-cultured, and the wound nurse stated she had swabbed the fluid instead of the surgical site and believed the culture had already been completed.
A facility failed to obtain ordered lab services for a resident with HTN, anxiety, and muscle weakness. The record showed a provider ordered a CBC and BMP for monitoring, but documentation did not show the CBC was completed as ordered, and an IP confirmed the failure.
Ordered lab services were not completed for a resident with epilepsy. The resident had physician orders for a phenobarbital level and a TSH level, but neither test was drawn or resulted as ordered. An MDS nurse confirmed the missed labs, and the facility policy required timely lab services when ordered by the MD/NP/PA.
A resident's ordered BMP was not collected as directed because the order was not entered into the facility's online system with the correct collection date. An LPN stated the receiving nurse enters lab orders and the evening nurse collects the sample, and the DON confirmed the lab sample was not collected as ordered.
Failure to Arrange Ordered WBC Lab Draw After ED Return
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to obtain laboratory services as ordered for one resident when staff did not arrange a WBC lab draw after the resident returned from the ED. The resident had severe cognitive impairment and required maximal assistance with ADLs. Diagnoses included Alzheimer's disease, a history of TIA and stroke, heart disease, dementia, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The resident's care plan identified an alteration in health care status related to dementia, unstable gait, hypertension, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, osteoarthritis, and history of TIA, with goals including vital signs in acceptable range, pain controlled to mild range, and ordered labs in acceptable range. The ED provider notes stated the resident was to return to the facility and have the WBC rechecked the next day. The resident's progress notes showed the AVS from the ED visit was reviewed several days later, and the instructions to check a WBC were noted at that time. When the laboratory department was contacted, it reported that no lab draw had been performed on the ordered date. Interviews with nursing staff indicated the charge nurse on the resident's unit was responsible for checking orders after return from an appointment, hospital, or ED, and another nurse was to recheck completed orders. Staff stated the nurse who reviewed the AVS missed the lab order and did not call it into the lab.
Missed Ordered Laboratory Testing
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to obtain multiple laboratory tests as ordered by medical providers for 8 of 51 sampled residents, including PT/INR testing, urinalyses, CBC/CMP testing, anticonvulsant drug levels, blood cultures, and an ammonia level. The report states that these missed labs involved residents with significant medical histories such as atrial fibrillation, recurrent urinary tract infections, chronic kidney disease, epilepsy, cirrhosis, and cognitive impairment. Facility policy required the facility to provide or obtain laboratory services to meet resident needs. For one resident, the deficiency involved repeated failure to obtain PT/INR testing during a transition from Eliquis to Coumadin with a Lovenox bridge. PT/INR labs were ordered every 48 hours, but several were not obtained. Later testing showed a PT greater than 90 and an INR that could not be calculated because the result was greater than linearity. The resident then developed active bleeding, including bleeding from the nose, mouth, urinary tract, and rectum. Additional labs showed critically low hemoglobin and hematocrit, and PT/INR could not be determined because there was no clot endpoint. The resident died in the facility while actively bleeding. The report also describes missed ordered labs for other residents. One resident with altered mental status and a history of recurrent UTIs had urinalysis orders that were not found in the record, while another resident with suspected CAUTI had a urinalysis with culture and sensitivity ordered but no result located. A resident on warfarin had PT/INR orders that were not obtained as scheduled, and another resident had ordered CBC and CMP testing that was not found. Additional residents had missing anticonvulsant levels, missing infection workup labs including CBC, BMP, magnesium, blood culture, and missing ammonia testing. Surveyors discussed these missing tests with facility leadership, and the record reflects that the ordered laboratory services were not completed or could not be located in the clinical record.
Wound Culture Not Completed as Ordered
Penalty
Summary
Timely, quality laboratory services were not provided for a resident with an abdominal surgical incision and left flank wound when a wound culture ordered for the resident was not completed as directed. The resident had diagnoses including COPD, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and tremors, and the baseline care plan indicated moderate impairment in daily decision making and a need for partial to moderate assistance with toileting. The care plan directed treatment per physician orders for the surgical incision and wound care. A physician order indicated that a culture and sensitivity of wounds could be obtained if indicated, and a skin/wound note documented green drainage from the wound vac on the resident’s left rib. The physician assessed the wound and ordered a wound culture along with IV vancomycin and aztreonam, but the culture collected was cancelled because a red cap viral tube was used instead of the appropriate pink cap culture swab. The wound was not re-cultured, and the wound nurse stated she had swabbed the fluid rather than the surgical site and believed the culture had been completed, while also noting the resident could not start the antibiotics without the culture being completed.
Failure to Obtain Ordered Laboratory Services
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to obtain laboratory services as ordered for one of five residents reviewed, Closed Resident Record CR99. The clinical record showed CR99 was admitted to the facility and had diagnoses of high blood pressure, anxiety, and muscle weakness. A physician order dated 6/17/26 directed the facility to obtain a CBC and BMP one time only for monitoring on 6/22/26. Review of the record did not reveal documentation that the CBC was obtained and completed as ordered on 6/22/26. During an interview on 7/23/26 at 1:11 p.m., Infection Preventionist Employee E7 confirmed that the facility failed to obtain laboratory services as ordered for CR99.
Ordered Laboratory Tests Not Completed
Penalty
Summary
Laboratory services were not completed as ordered for one resident with epilepsy. The resident was admitted on 04/03/25 and, according to the MDS dated 06/12/26, was cognitively intact and dependent on staff assistance for ADLs. Physician orders dated 06/05/26 included a phenobarbital level every six months and a TSH level every 12 months starting on 07/01/26. The medical record showed that neither the phenobarbital nor the TSH lab was drawn or resulted in July 2026. During interview on 07/23/26, the Regional MDS Nurse confirmed the ordered TSH and phenobarbital labs were not completed. The facility policy stated laboratory services must be provided or obtained when ordered by a physician and that the facility was responsible for the timeliness of those services.
Missed Ordered Lab Collection
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to collect laboratory exams ordered by the physician for Resident #15. A physician order dated 06/17/26 directed a BMP in 10 days, but the record did not document lab results for 06/27/26, and the Treatment Administration Record for June 2026 showed the lab was not drawn as ordered. During interview, an LPN stated that when labs are ordered, the receiving nurse is supposed to enter the order into the facility's online system and set the appropriate completion date, and that the evening nurse would be responsible for collecting the resident's lab sample. The DON later stated that the physician's order for a BMP in 10 days was not entered into the system with the correct collection date, and the lab sample was not collected as ordered.
Trusted data from CMS and state health departments
Every citation, penalty and Plan of Correction is sourced from public CMS records (latest release October 8, 2026) and official state health department websites — never guesswork.
In your survey window? See what surveyors are citing.
The Survey-Prep Report maps your facility's risk from 12 months of CMS and state citation data — what's being cited around you and what to check first. $129 one-time.