Healthcare Compliance Perspective – Resident Abuse:
The Compliance Officer together with the Compliance Committee and staff should review surveys to identify issues like a poor call bell response and create a plan of correction. The facility’s policies and procedures should be reviewed and updated to ensure they are current and being implemented. The Compliance Officer should involve staff in the p
rocess of correcting this deficiency by having them participate in the development and implementation of the audit plan for monitoring, e.g., the call bell issue. Audits should be scheduled on a regular basis and staff should receive education/training regarding changes to the policies and procedures along with Abuse and Neglect training.
Choice Health Management Services operates 16 nursing homes in North Carolina and since 2015, hidden cameras in the facilities have recorded multiple instances of resident abuse. Consequently, Medicare has imposed fines at six of the facilities totaling $567,976. The fines on the facilities ranged from the least amount of $31,186 up to the greatest amount at $234,269.
One of the resident’s daughter reported that she had placed a hidden camera in her father’s room because he had insisted he was not being cared for properly. The camera showed that the resident, who was recovering from a stroke, fell out of bed early on April 10, and staff did not respond for over an hour. When the staff finally did respond, they verbally berated the resident.
Family members of other residents also reported and filed complaints alleging that staff often ignored call bells. Although these complaints were not substantiated by the state, it was noted that the facility where they occurred had been cited multiple times by federal inspectors for insufficient staff and failure to respond to residents’ call bells.
Other reported incidents involved a doctor finding maggots in a wound on a resident’s foot when he removed the resident’s shoe. Later, an aide admitted that she had seen the maggots on the resident’s foot the day before; and, instead of taking any action, she just ran from the room.
In yet another incident, a resident at risk for wandering who was wearing a bracelet designed to alert staff if the resident wandered off was able to leave the building and walk across the street to a parking lot without any alarm sounding. When her bracelet was checked along with the other residents who were wearing them, it was discovered that none of the bracelets were working.
The officials from all of the facilities have made assurances that all staff involved in abusing residents have been terminated, and the facilities are attempting to correct every issue involved.
