Failure to Ensure Timely Physician Face-to-Face Visits
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that residents received face-to-face visits from their attending physicians within the required timeframes, as outlined in the facility's physician services policy. Specifically, one resident was admitted and did not have a documented face-to-face physician visit until 20 days after admission, with no further visits recorded, despite subsequent hospitalizations and returns. Another resident had only sporadic face-to-face visits documented, with significant gaps between visits and no evidence of compliance with the required frequency. The attending physician stated that he is present in the facility several times a week and documents visits in the electronic medical record, but the records reviewed did not support that the required visits occurred as per policy. The facility's policy requires a physician to see Medicare residents at least every 30 days and all other residents at least every 60 days, with documentation of each visit in the medical record.