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Based on record review, document review and staff interview it was determined the facility failed to afford the patient a medical screening examination in one (1) out of twenty (20) patients (patient #1) (see Tag A 2406). This failure has the potential to cause great harm on all patients presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) for care.

Based on record review, document review and interview it was determined the facility failed to afford the patient a medical screening exam in one (1) out of twenty (20) patients (patient #1). This failure has the potential to cause great harm to any patient presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) for care.

Findings:

A medical record review was conducted of patient #1's medical record. There is no information on the record from 11/16/20.

The ED Log was reviewed for the past six (6) months. There was no listing of patient #1 on the log for 11/16/20.

A review was conducted of the sign placed outside the entrance of the ED from 03/16/20 through 11/20/20. It stated, "STOP. If you have had: a temperature of 100 or higher, a cough and shortness of breath please go back to your car and call 304-630-3088 and a nurse will respond immediately."

A review was conducted of the telephone log for the "COVID-19 Hotline" from 11/16/20. It showed three (3) incoming calls from patient #1's phone number (304-668-8211) at 12:07 p.m., 12:28 p.m. and 1:10 p.m.

A review was conducted of the "Patient Relations Worksheet," date received 11/18/20. It revealed patient #1 called in her concern to the hospital on 11/18/20 at 3:01 p.m. The facility investigated and relayed the results to the patient (patient #1). The facility self-reported the incident to the Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification (OHFLAC) on 11/20/20.

A policy titled "EMTALA Guidelines for Emergency Department Services," last revised 03/18, was reviewed and states in part: "POLICY: All patients presenting to Davis Memorial Hospital's Emergency Department seeking care, or presenting elsewhere on the hospital's main campus and requesting emergency care, must be accepted and evaluated regardless of the patient's ability to pay."

A telephone interview was conducted with a Labor and Delivery Nurse #1. Her unit is responsible for the COVID-19 Hotline telephone. Regarding the incident with patient #1 she stated, "When we realized the phone had went dead that day (11/16/20) we checked the voicemail and called everyone back. There were three (3) messages. Two (2) were asking about test results and one (1) was patient #1 who was waiting outside the ED. This was a few hours later and we tried to call back but didn't get an answer."

An interview was conducted with the Patient Experience Coordinator on 01/04/21 at 10:25 a.m. She was responsible for the investigation into patient #1's complaint. She stated, "In this instance the hotline phone had not been charged. We now have remedied the situation by removing the sign from the outside of the ED and taken out the option to leave a voicemail on the hotline."