Failure to Provide Timely Discharge Notices and Notify Ombudsman
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide a written discharge notice to a resident and their responsible party prior to discharge, as required. The discharge order for the resident was written by the physician, and the resident was discharged two days later. However, the Notice of Proposed Transfer/Discharge was only provided to the responsible party on the day of discharge, rather than in advance. The responsible party was verbally informed of the discharge, but the written notice, which included the reason for discharge, was not given until the day the resident left the facility. Additionally, the facility did not send copies of discharge notices to the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman for twelve residents who were discharged during the review period. The Ombudsman confirmed that they did not receive the required notices, only a list of discharged residents with basic information. The facility's policy requires that a copy of the discharge notice be sent to the Ombudsman at the same time it is provided to the resident and their representative, but this was not done. The Ombudsman had previously notified the facility in writing of this requirement.