Failure to Provide Timely Access to Resident Medical Records
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide timely access to a resident's medical records to the resident's authorized representative, as required by federal regulations and facility policy. The resident's representative had requested specific documents, including the most recent care plan, therapy notes, medication lists, and care guides, and had been waiting for over two months without receiving the requested records. Documentation showed that the representative communicated multiple times with facility administrators, expressing frustration over the delay and stating that no care conference would be scheduled until the records were provided. The facility's own grievance documentation noted the ongoing request and the representative's refusal to attend a care conference until the records were released. The resident in question had a diagnosis of dementia and was assessed as having severely impaired cognition, with the representative designated as the medical decision maker. Despite repeated requests and assurances from facility staff that the records would be provided, there was no evidence that the medical records staff received the request, and the records were not supplied until several months after the initial request. The facility's policy required access to records within 24 hours during business hours, but this was not met in this case.