Breach of Resident Privacy and Confidentiality
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure personal privacy and confidentiality for ten of sixteen sampled residents, as evidenced by videos posted on social media platforms without consent. These videos, which included residents dancing or appearing in the background, were recorded in various locations within the facility, including the secure memory care unit and hallways. The videos were originally posted by the Admissions Coordinator and subsequently reposted and edited by unknown users, leading to widespread dissemination across social media platforms. Several residents involved in the videos had severe cognitive impairments, as indicated by their medical records and assessments. For instance, one resident had a severe cognitive impairment score and was unable to communicate a willful and knowing health decision. Family members of these residents were not informed or asked for consent prior to the posting of the videos. Interviews with family members revealed that they were unaware of the social media postings and would not have consented to their loved ones being featured in such videos. The facility's policy on social media use explicitly prohibits the unauthorized taking, keeping, or distributing of photographs or recordings of residents, emphasizing the need to maintain resident privacy and confidentiality. Despite this policy, the Nursing Home Administrator and Regional Nurse Consultant were unaware of the videos until they were brought to their attention. The Admissions Coordinator, who was responsible for the original postings, was identified and subsequently suspended, with plans for termination. This incident highlights a significant breach of privacy and confidentiality protocols within the facility.
Plan Of Correction
1. Immediate action(s) taken for the resident(s) found to have been affected include: Facility contacted residents responsible parties/representatives/families of residents #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, and #16 to notify them that the residents were posted on social media by a staff member, without the facility's knowledge. Staff members were advised to remove all resident-related content from social media. All videos found were reported to the social media to remove videos. The legal department at Tik Tok was contacted to remove videos. Staff member was terminated. 2. Identification of other residents having the potential to be affected: Multiple social media platforms reviewed to identify any postings of facility residents. Facility-wide audit of all residents currently residing in the facility to verify photo consents are signed and present in the medical record. The photo consent form was revamped to include social media posting. The consent form does not permit staff to post on their personal pages. The consent clearly states for use on Lakeland Nursing and Rehab OPCO, LLC's official social media accounts. 3. Actions taken/systems put in place to reduce the risk of future occurrence include: RDCS/DCS/Designee re-educated staff on facility policies to include Neglect, Resident Rights, Social Media, and Personal Cell Phone Use. NHA has since created an official social media page for authorized facility-related content and is the authorized administrator of the page. Resident records will be reviewed for photo and social media consent prior to any posting of content. No phones are allowed to be out in patient care areas. Nursing Home Administrator/Designee will search social media weekly for postings related to our facility. 4. How the corrective action(s) will be monitored to ensure the practice will not reoccur: The Admissions Director/Designee will conduct an audit of new admission records to make certain records contain Photo Consent Form five times a week for 4 weeks, 3 times a week for 4 weeks, twice weekly for 4 weeks, then weekly and PRN as indicated. The Administrator/Designee will conduct reviews of social media (Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram) weekly for 8 weeks and every 2 weeks for 1 month, then monthly for 3 months and quarterly or PRN as indicated. Quality reviews will be completed once a week for 8 weeks and then every 2 weeks for 1 month. Quality reviews will be reviewed by the QAPI committee monthly for 3 months or until substantial compliance is met along with quarterly reviews.