Failure to Provide Bed Hold and Transfer Notices During Hospital Transfers
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide required written notifications regarding bed hold policies and transfer notices to residents or their representatives when residents were transferred to the hospital. Specifically, three residents who were transferred to the hospital did not have documentation in their medical records indicating that they or their representatives received written notice of the facility's bed hold policy or a written notice of transfer/discharge at the time of their hospital transfer. The facility's own policies require that such notifications be provided both verbally and in writing, including information about the reason for transfer, effective date, location, appeal rights, and contact information for the state long-term care ombudsman and other advocacy agencies. Record review confirmed that for each of the three residents transferred to the hospital, there was no evidence that the required notifications were given on the dates of transfer. This was further verified by the Administrator in Training, who acknowledged that the notifications were not provided as required by facility policy. The deficiency was identified through interviews and review of census sheets and medical records, which consistently lacked the necessary documentation for each hospital transfer event reviewed.