Failure to Protect Resident Privacy During Physician Examinations
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to maintain privacy and confidentiality of a resident’s personal and medical information when the facility physician conducted medical examinations in a group setting in the dining area. Resident 2, who had diagnoses including morbid obesity, depression, and epilepsy and was assessed as having little to no cognitive impairment, reported being examined by the physician in the dining room in front of other residents. During an interview, Resident 2 stated that this examination in the dining room bothered her and made her feel embarrassed, and that the physician barely spent any time with facility residents. Resident council minutes reflected that all participating residents wanted to know if they could see a new physician. In a phone interview, the facility physician acknowledged conducting a few medical examinations among a group of residents in the dining area, explaining that he only came to the facility once a month, had many residents to see, and had to “chase down” residents wherever they were in the building. Electronic correspondence from a resident advocate to the agency included multiple anonymous complaints alleging that the physician conducted group examinations in the dining area where resident privacy and confidentiality were not honored. Facility policies titled “Physician Visits and Physician Delegation” and “Resident Rights” required the physician to review the resident’s total program of care at each visit and affirmed residents’ rights to personal privacy and confidentiality, including privacy during medical treatment, but these requirements were not followed during the group examinations.
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