Failure to Follow and Document Physician Orders for UA and CT Imaging
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to ensure physician orders were followed and appropriately documented for two residents. One resident with urinary retention, neuromuscular bladder dysfunction, severely impaired cognition, and an indwelling catheter had physician orders for urinalyses in December 2025, with the electronic order status showing both tests as completed. However, review of the electronic medical record revealed no nursing notes related to collection of the ordered urine specimens and no laboratory results for any urinalysis in December. The resident’s care plan included monitoring and reporting signs and symptoms of UTI and noted that the resident had a fixation with the genital area and sometimes refused catheter care, but there was still no documentation that staff attempted to obtain the ordered UAs, that the resident refused, or that collection was otherwise unsuccessful. For the second resident, who had diagnoses including enterocolitis due to C. difficile and morbid obesity, an unwitnessed fall occurred while the resident was attempting to stand from a commode. An X-ray was ordered but could not be obtained due to the resident’s abdominal size, and the physician then ordered a CT scan of the back and right side. The facility’s order summary showed the CT scan order, and staff interviews indicated that the order was to be faxed to a local hospital. The resident later reported being unaware that a CT scan had been ordered and not being given a scheduled date for the procedure. A hospital scheduling manager reported not seeing a CT order for the resident until several days after the order date and stated that the CT had not been scheduled because the facility sent an invalid order that required correction before scheduling. The administrator, CNAs, LPNs, and the DON all stated that physician orders were expected to be followed as written and that failed attempts to collect UAs or send out imaging orders should be documented in the EMR, MAR, or TAR, including confirmation of fax receipt when applicable. The DON confirmed there was no documentation that the UAs for the first resident could not be collected and no documentation confirming that the CT order for the second resident had been sent or received before the date identified by the hospital scheduler.
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