State Fines Six Pennsylvania Nursing Homes $126,500 for Deficiencies Reported in 2017 and 2018 Inspections
Failure by staff to follow standards of practice with resulting negative outcomes to residents may lead to citations and penalties for substandard quality care and the submission of false claims.
Compliance Perspective – Deficiencies
Policies/Procedures: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Administrator and Director of Nursing will review policies and procedures related to standards of practice which were not followed.
Training: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Administrator will ensure that appropriate staff receive education on the standards of practice that were not followed and their related responsibilities. Additionally, the individual supervisory responsibilities of every department head and supervisor will be reinforced to ensure that they provide adequate supervision for their staff.
Audit: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Administrator should personally conduct an audit to verify that management is performing daily, intermittent rounds to note any potential areas where more supervision is needed. Staff who failed to follow the standards of practice will be audited for competency in those tasks after receiving additional training.
Six nursing homes in a Pennsylvania county were reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health to have been fined a combined total of $126,500. The fines were related to problems reported in inspections that occurred from January 2017 through August 2018.
The fines covered a variety of incidents. The largest fine was for $38,500 due to a resident being given a roommate’s medication which resulted in that resident becoming unresponsive and needing hospitalization. Additional problems included a delay in getting the resident to the hospital and failure to notify the director of nursing, administrator, and the resident’s power of attorney.
Other facilities received varying fines, including $7,250 for failure to repair a malfunctioning door lock that resulted in a resident opening the door, falling down the stairs, and injuring a shoulder and a thumb. One resident received a kidney injury requiring placement on a ventilator related to a medication error—the facility was fined $23,250. A $21,000 fine was levied after a resident received cervical spine injuries due to being left unattended and falling from a mechanical lift. Another facility was fined $24,500 for leaving a resident unsupervised on the toilet, and the resident fell and injured his spine.
One facility received two fines ($5,500 and $6,500) for two separate inspections involving the failure to give two residents with heart conditions prescribed anticoagulant medications for 20 and 40 days respectively. One of those residents developed a pulmonary embolism in both lungs as a result.
