Failure to Resolve Resident Grievance Promptly
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure a prompt resolution to a grievance for a resident, as evidenced by multiple unresolved grievances related to the payment of the resident's phone bill. The resident's representative initially filed a grievance on November 18, 2024, requesting the facility to pay the phone bill. Although the former Nursing Home Administrator signed off that the bill had been paid and the grievance resolved on November 26, 2024, the representative later discovered that the bill was not fully paid. This led to a second grievance being filed on December 16, 2024, which was again marked as resolved by the former NHA on December 18, 2024. Despite these actions, the issue persisted, and a third grievance was filed on February 1, 2025, after the representative was instructed to pay the bill herself with the promise of reimbursement. As of February 19, 2025, the representative had not been reimbursed, and she expressed frustration over the lack of response from the facility. The facility's grievance policy, revised in June 2023, mandates that grievances be addressed in a timely manner, which was not adhered to in this case.
Plan Of Correction
The Social Services Director spoke with resident #3's responsible party to communicate the facility's effort to a prompt resolution. The phone bill monies were withdrawn from resident #3's personal funds account and reimbursed to the responsible party. The facility will manage resident #3's monthly phone bill going forward. The facility will manage residents' personal accounts for those that the facility is the designated payee. The Social Services Director and Nursing Home Administrator conducted a complete audit of all grievances in the past 2 months to ensure accuracy and prompt resolutions. No further corrections were identified. The Social Services Director or designee will conduct interviews of 4 random residents/responsible parties 5 times a week for 2 weeks, then 2 times a week for 4 weeks, then monthly for 2 months. The Social Services Director was re-educated by the Nursing Home Administrator to ensure a prompt resolution to a resident grievance. The Social Services Director or designee will re-educate the current staff on the resident grievance policy and procedure and accurate use of the grievance form with prompt resolution. Findings from the quality review audits will be reviewed and discussed by the Quality Assurance Performance Improvement (QAPI) Committee monthly for 3 months. Non-compliance will be reviewed by the QAPI committee with direct changes to the plan as deemed necessary to ensure ongoing and sustained compliance.