Insufficient Notice to Responsible Party for Care Planning Conference
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to provide sufficient notice of a care planning conference to the responsible party (RP) for one of three sampled residents, resulting in the RP not being able to participate in care planning. The resident’s son, who is the designated RP and a full-time working medical doctor, reported that the facility called him and left a message on the morning of 11/13/25 stating that a care planning conference was scheduled for later that same day. He stated he was unable to attend due to the short notice. He also reported having difficulty getting his calls returned by facility staff and being unsuccessful in the past in getting care conferences scheduled at times he could attend. He stated he was not kept informed of the resident’s care and treatment and was not included in making treatment decisions. Record review and staff interviews confirmed that Social Service Assistant (SSA) 1 attempted to contact the RP on the morning of 11/13/25, left a message requesting a return call, and documented this in a Social Service Progress Note at 9:02 a.m. The Interdisciplinary Care Conference Progress Note, entered at 2:47 p.m. the same day, listed the RP as having been invited by phone but not attending, and indicated that a copy of the care plan was refused by the resident/resident representative. SSA 1 acknowledged usually not documenting when calls were returned and knew the RP was a doctor who worked full time. The Social Services Director stated that calling the son on the same day as the care conference was short notice. The facility’s care planning policy states that residents and their representatives are encouraged to participate in care plan development and that every effort will be made to schedule care plan meetings at the best time for the resident and family, which did not occur in this instance.
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