Failure to Document Hospice Communication and Visits
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to implement and document a communication process between the facility and the hospice provider as required by its own Hospice Services Policy. The policy specified that communication, including documentation of hospice visits, should occur to ensure resident needs are addressed 24 hours per day. For one resident with multiple diagnoses, including diabetes mellitus, cerebral infarction, COPD, and hypertension, who was assessed for hospice services and had a moderate cognitive impairment, there was no documentation of hospice visits in the facility's hospice communication log for a five-month period. Interviews with an LPN and the DON confirmed that hospice visits should be documented in the hospice communication log, but this was not done.