Failure to Resolve Resident Grievance Regarding Phone Bill Payment
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure a prompt resolution to a grievance for one of the sampled residents. The resident's representative filed multiple grievances regarding the payment of the resident's phone bill. Initially, the representative was informed by the business office that the bill would be paid, but it was not. The grievance form indicated that the former Nursing Home Administrator had signed off that the bill was paid and the grievance resolved, but this was not the case. Subsequent grievances were filed by the representative, expressing frustration that the phone bill was not completely paid and that she was told to pay the bill herself with the promise of reimbursement. Despite the grievance log reflecting that the issue was resolved, the representative reported that she had not been reimbursed and was not receiving responses from the facility. The Social Service Director and the current Nursing Home Administrator were involved in addressing the grievances, but the issue remained unresolved at the time of the report.
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 The phone bill monies were withdrawn from resident #3's personal funds account and reimbursed to the responsible party.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.