Failure to Complete Required Physician Visits Upon Admission
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that physician visits were completed as required upon admission for two residents. According to facility policy, the attending physician is responsible for participating in resident assessments and care planning, including timely face-to-face visits. For one resident with schizophrenia, records showed that after admission, the resident was seen by a nurse practitioner and had behavioral health follow-ups, but the attending physician only saw the resident once within the required timeframe. Similarly, another resident with Alzheimer's disease was seen by a nurse practitioner and had behavioral health visits, but the attending physician's visits did not meet the required schedule following admission. Interviews with the Director of Nursing (DON) and the attending physician revealed a lack of awareness regarding the regulatory requirement for physician visits every 30 days for the first 90 days after admission. Both the DON and the physician believed that visits every 60 days were sufficient, and the DON was unsure about the alternating frequency of visits. This misunderstanding led to the failure to complete physician visits as mandated for newly admitted residents.