Failure to Provide Complete Medical Records Within Required Timeframe
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide complete medical records to the responsible party for one resident in a timely manner, as required by facility policy. On March 19, 2025, the responsible party requested medical records, and while some current records were provided after three days, not all requested records were given. This was confirmed by the Medical Records Director during interviews and record reviews. The facility's policy, dated May 2017, specifies that access to personal and medical records must be provided within 72 hours of the request, excluding weekends and holidays. Interviews with the Medical Records Director, DON, and administrator all confirmed the expectation that records should be released within the 72-hour timeframe. However, there was inconsistency in the responses regarding whether the policy was fully followed, particularly since not all records were provided as requested. The failure to provide the complete set of records as required by policy had the potential to compromise the resident's rights and could have resulted in psychosocial harm to the responsible party.