Failure to Maintain Complete Laboratory Records in Resident Files
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to maintain complete, dated laboratory records in the clinical records of two residents. For one resident with diagnoses including acute respiratory failure with hypoxia, Crohn's disease, and hemiplegia, multiple physician orders for laboratory tests such as Complete Blood Count (CBC), Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP), and Clostridioides difficile (C-diff) were documented, but the corresponding laboratory results were not found in the resident's medical record. Nursing progress notes and physician orders confirmed that these labs were ordered and should have been completed, yet no results were available in the record during the review period. For another resident with schizoaffective disorder, diabetes mellitus with kidney complication, and chronic kidney disease, an active physician's order for Glycated Hemoglobin (HgbA1C) to be drawn every six months was present, but no laboratory results were located in the medical record. Interviews with staff revealed that STAT lab results were typically faxed and reviewed by the provider, while routine labs were accessed through an online portal and were supposed to be uploaded to the resident's medical record by medical records staff. However, issues with the online portal and differences in how STAT and routine labs were managed led to missing documentation of lab results in the residents' records.