Failure to Coordinate and Document Hospice Care for Resident
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to coordinate and implement hospice care measures for a resident who had been receiving hospice services. Although there was a physician's order for hospice care, the resident's medical record did not contain any additional hospice care orders, hospice progress notes, updates to the care plan regarding hospice interventions, or documentation indicating when hospice care was provided. The facility's own hospice policy requires coordination with the hospice provider, documentation of communication, and inclusion of the hospice plan of care in the resident's care plan, none of which were present in this case. Interviews with the DON revealed that the facility had not received any medical records or documentation from the hospice agency for the resident, and that communication with hospice was only verbal. The DON acknowledged that it often takes time to receive information from the hospice provider and that there was no written documentation to guide the facility's implementation of hospice interventions for the resident.