Failure to Ensure Resident Comprehension Before Signing Arbitration Agreement
Penalty
Summary
A resident with diagnoses including emphysema, hypertension, malnutrition, and peripheral vascular disease was admitted to the facility and assessed as having moderately impaired cognition. Medical record reviews indicated the resident was alert but exhibited confusion and both long-term and short-term memory deficits, with the ability to make only limited decisions requiring simple understanding. Despite these cognitive limitations, the resident signed a binding arbitration agreement as part of the admission process. The agreement itself was incomplete, lacking the facility representative's signature and missing the date and resident name at the top of the form. During a subsequent interview, the resident was unable to recall basic information such as the current month, year, duration of stay, or the facility's name, and could not explain or remember signing the arbitration agreement. The Regional Director of Clinical Operations confirmed that the resident had impaired cognition at the time of signing and acknowledged that residents should be capable of understanding such agreements before signing. This sequence of events demonstrates that the facility failed to ensure the resident was capable of understanding the arbitration agreement prior to obtaining their signature.