HospitalInspections.org

Based on review of documents and interview it was determined that the facility failed to involve a patient in their care planning by not following up on the patient's request to change physicians in 1 of 3 records reviewed.

findings were:
A document, provided by the facility to patients, entitled "Patient's Bill of Rights" was reviewed on 8/11/10. This document stated on page 4 "You have the right to a treatment plan for your stay in the hospital that is just for you. You have the right to take part in developing that plan". On page 5 the document also stated "You have the right to request the opinion of another doctor at you own expense".

Review of Patient #1's medical record on 8/11/10 revealed a document entitled "M.D. Progress Notes" dated 2/9/10 with documentation from the physician indicating that patient #1 stated "I want a new doctor" . No documentation was found by or provided to the surveyor indicating that the physician, Social Worker, or any other member of the staff followed up on the request to change the patients physician.

An interview was conducted with the facility Director on the afternoon of 8/11/10 in the facility's conference room. During the interview the Director stated that the facility had no written policy for facilitating a patient request to change physicians. She stated that even though there was no written policy, it was practice at the facility for the Social Worker to follow up on requests to change physicians. In addition she stated that the patient's physician should contact another physician to facilitate the request. She continued, stating that if the patient's current physician thinks that the request for changing physicians is unwarranted, such as medication seeking behavior, then the physician will not follow through with a change. The Director then stated that regardless of whether the request was followed through with or not, there should still be documentation in the patient's record stating what was done and what decision was made.

During this interview the Director confirmed that patient #1 requested a new physician and that no documentation was present indicating what was done about it. .