This week’s “Ftag of the Week” on the CMSCG Blog is F572 Notice of Rights and Rules, which is part of the Resident Rights regulatory group. Per the State Operations Manual (SOM) Appendix PP, residents have the right to be informed of their rights and all rules and regulations that govern residents’ responsibilities and conduct while they are residents of the facility. The facility is required to provide:
- Notice of rights and services to the resident either prior to or upon admission to the facility as well as during the resident’s stay. The facility must ensure that the resident is provided this information both orally and written in a language that he or she understands. This information should include all of the resident’s rights, all rules and regulations that govern resident conduct and responsibilities while in the facility.
- If the State has a specific notice of Medicaid rights and obligations in place, the facility must also provide the resident with this information.
Receipt of this information as well as any amendments that are made to it must be acknowledged in writing. The Interpretive Guidance (IG) states that residents cannot be expected to follow rules that they have never been told about, so any policies or rules that the facility has put into place that the residents are expected to abide by must be included in the residents’ statement of rights and responsibilities.
The IG also reminds providers that if the resident and/or representative’s understanding English/ predominant language of the facility is not adequate for them to comprehend the information, then the facility is required to communicate this information on a language or format that the resident or representative is familiar with. This includes the requirement that facilities have written translations and Braille versions of this information available, as well as make interpreter services available if needed.
How It’s Cited
On survey, residents will be interviewed and asked how they are provided with this information , if it was provided in a language and format that they understood, and if the facility provides on-going information about resident rights. Given the restrictions that have been in place due to COVID-19, if small groups are allowed to meet, facilities should take this time to remind residents of their rights.
F572 has been cited for many different types of issues, including these actual citations:
- A facility changed a dependent resident’s insurance plan, and the only way that the resident was made aware of the change was when the new insurance company told him during a visit. The resident’s representative was not notified and did not provide permission to make the change and subsequently was only made aware of the change when services that had previously been covered had been denied (S/S: D)
- A resident told a surveyor that he was not made aware by the facility that he had the right to make choices for things like meal times and medication administration and that he was not provided with any information on resident rights on admission (S/S: D)
- A surveyor reviewed Resident Council meeting minutes and interviewed residents, finding that facility staff had failed to discuss and review the residents’ rights with them during these meetings (S/S: E)
- A facility failed to ensure all residents were informed of their rights and the rules and regulations governing their conduct when it failed to ensure that there was posted information available that included this information on all units (S/S: F)
Now is a good time to ensure that your procedures are being followed as set out in your facility policies, and anything that may have fallen through the cracks, such as those continuous efforts to keep residents informed, are back in place now that we have a better handle on COVID.
