Failure to Assist Resident in Obtaining Needed Dental Services
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide or obtain needed dental services for one resident. The facility’s dental services policy stated that the center would provide or obtain routine and emergency dental services to meet each patient’s needs. The resident was admitted with Medicaid coverage, and an admission MDS documented that the resident was cognitively intact and had broken natural teeth. A care plan was created for the resident’s dental problems, including broken, loose, and carious teeth, with an intervention specifying dental referrals as needed. Despite this, the resident reported having spoken with the unit manager about seeing a dentist and stated that nothing had happened for a couple of weeks. The social services designee reported being unaware of any request for dental services from this resident and provided a list of residents scheduled to be seen by the contracted dentist, which did not include the resident. The unit manager confirmed knowledge of the resident’s need for assistance to see a dentist and stated that they had only recently reached out to the social services designee to request the resident be added to the list. This sequence of events showed that the resident’s identified dental needs and request for assistance were not timely communicated or acted upon, resulting in the resident not being scheduled for dental services as of the time of the surveyor’s review.
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