Failure to Provide Required Transfer/Discharge Notice
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide a written notice of transfer or discharge to a resident, the resident's representative, and the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman prior to the resident's discharge. According to the facility's policy, a thirty-day advance written notice is required for planned transfers or discharges, and a copy must be sent to the Ombudsman at the same time. In this case, the resident was readmitted and later discharged at the request of the resident's wife, but there was no documented evidence that the required notice was given to any of the parties involved before the discharge occurred. Interviews with social services staff and review of the closed medical record confirmed that the notice of transfer/discharge was not provided as required. The staff stated that the notice would typically be given two days prior to discharge or when the resident expressed a desire to leave, but in this instance, no documentation was found to support that the notice was issued to the resident, the representative, or the Ombudsman prior to the discharge. This omission was verified by both the social services staff and the social services director during the review.