F0555

D

Failure to Honor Resident’s Right to Choose Attending Physician

Temple City, California Survey Completed on 03-05-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to honor a resident’s right to choose an attending physician prior to or upon admission, as required by facility policy. The resident was admitted with diagnoses including Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and type 2 DM, and had moderately impaired cognitive skills for daily decision making, requiring varying levels of assistance with ADLs. The admission record listed a specific physician (MD 3) as the primary physician, while a face sheet faxed from a general acute care hospital identified a different physician (MD 1) as the resident’s primary care physician. The resident’s POA (RP 1) was identified in the admission record, but neither the resident nor RP 1 was asked to choose an attending physician at or before admission.

RP 1 reported not being informed that MD 1 was not the attending physician until a change of condition occurred, and stated she was never told the resident would be assigned a new physician or asked about her choice, despite MD 1 having been the resident’s primary physician for over 10 years. The Admissions Coordinator acknowledged assigning the resident to MD 3 without asking RP 1 about physician choice and did not notify RP 1 of the change, stating it was not her responsibility. The Director of Marketing stated that when the referral was received, she assigned the resident to one of the facility doctors without speaking to the resident or RP 1 about their choice of attending physician and did not follow up, assuming another staff member would do so. Review of the facility’s policies on Designation of Attending Physician and Resident’s Rights confirmed that residents must be asked to choose a personal attending physician prior to or upon admission and be informed when the facility designates one, which did not occur in this case, as acknowledged by the Administrator.