Failure to Conduct and Complete Quarterly Interdisciplinary Care Conferences
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to ensure that comprehensive care plans were prepared, reviewed, and revised by an interdisciplinary team and that care conferences were scheduled and conducted quarterly, as required by facility policy. For one resident with cerebral atherosclerosis, stage IV kidney disease, and hypertension, records showed multiple timely MDS assessments and a care plan addressing risk for skin breakdown, but only one documented interdisciplinary care conference over an extended period. No additional care conferences were recorded in the electronic health record despite ongoing quarterly and annual assessments. Another resident with atrial fibrillation, COPD, chronic pain, and nutritional risk had an admission assessment and several quarterly MDS assessments completed, along with a care plan addressing nutritional risk and monitoring needs. However, the electronic record showed only one documented care conference, and both the resident and family confirmed they had not participated in quarterly care conferences. A third resident with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and psychotic disturbance had multiple quarterly and annual MDS assessments and a care plan for psychotropic medication monitoring, but only four care conferences were documented over a broad time frame, with all marked in error status. One of these assessments was incomplete, with only restorative nursing and nursing sections signed, and the resident’s family confirmed that quarterly care conferences had not occurred. A fourth resident with acute and chronic heart failure and vascular dementia with behaviors had multiple quarterly and annual MDS assessments completed and required staff assistance with ADLs. The electronic record showed only two care conferences, both noted as in error status or in progress, and one was incomplete with only restorative nursing and nursing sections signed. A corporate RN verified that the care conference assessments in the system were in error status, meaning the conferences were not complete and/or lacked required information and signatures, and confirmed that quarterly care conferences for all four residents had not been conducted as required. Review of the facility’s Resident Assessment policy showed that residents were to have the opportunity to discuss their goals of care and that care plans were to be developed by an interdisciplinary team with resident and/or family participation, but this policy was not implemented as written.
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