Failure to Maintain Written Hospital Transfer Agreement Policy and Documentation
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to maintain and provide a written transfer agreement policy and documentation of formalized arrangements with a Medicare- or Medicaid-certified hospital to ensure residents could be transferred when medically necessary. During document and policy review, surveyors were unable to obtain a written transfer agreement policy outlining the process for transferring residents to a hospital for acute care. In an interview, the Administrator stated she could not provide the requested transfer agreement policy at the time of survey, explaining that binders containing important documents had been relocated during a recent facility-wide evacuation and the documentation could not be produced. The facility also could not provide evidence of a current written transfer agreement or other documentation verifying formal transfer arrangements with a hospital for timely resident transfers. No specific residents, medical histories, or clinical conditions at the time of the deficiency were described in the report.
