Failure to Coordinate Hospice Services for Residents Receiving End-of-Life Care
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure proper coordination of hospice services with facility services for two residents requiring end-of-life care. For one resident with diagnoses including aphasia, anemia, and CVA, hospice services were documented as being provided, but the last recorded visit from a hospice nurse was several months prior, and there was no evidence of ongoing coordination or service provision after that date. The facility's policy required timely hospice services and coordination, including maintaining up-to-date hospice plans of care and documentation, but these requirements were not met for this resident. For another resident with congestive heart failure, palliative care, and atherosclerotic heart disease, there was a physician's order for hospice admission and confirmation of hospice service initiation. However, the clinical record did not contain documentation of a Physician Certification of Terminal Illness, which is necessary for hospice care coordination. In both cases, the facility's social worker confirmed the lack of required documentation and coordination, indicating a failure to meet the residents' end-of-life care needs as outlined in facility policy and regulatory requirements.