Delay in Providing Medical Records to Resident Representative
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide a resident's medical records to the resident's legal representative in a timely manner after a written request was made. According to the facility's policy, residents or their representatives may request access to records, but the policy did not specify the required timeframe for fulfilling such requests. In this case, the representative requested the records after the resident's death, and the records were not provided until 12 weekdays later. The delay was attributed to the facility's process of sending records to their attorney for approval, which was further prolonged due to difficulty contacting the attorney. Interviews with facility staff revealed a lack of awareness regarding the regulatory timeframe for providing medical records. The Medical Records Director was unaware that records needed to be provided within 24 hours, and the Nursing Home Administrator believed the timeframe was 72 hours. The facility's policy was also found to be incomplete, as it did not specify the number of hours within which records must be provided. This lack of clarity and knowledge among staff contributed to the delay in fulfilling the representative's request.