Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 940 CMR - OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL › Title 940 CMR 4.00 - Long Term Care Facilities › Section 4.08 - Medical Treatment and Information

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
It shall be an. unfair or deceptive act or practice, in
				violation of M.G.L. c. 93A, § 2, for a licensee or an
				administrator:
(1) to fail or refuse
			 to permit a resident to choose his/her personal attending physician;
(2) to fail or refuse to permit a resident to
			 be fully informed in advance about care and treatment and of any changes in
			 care or treatment that may affect the resident's well being;
(3) to fail or refuse to permit a resident to
			 participate in the planning of his/her care and treatment or in decisions
			 relating to changes in such care or treatment; where a resident has been
			 adjudged incompetent under Massachusetts state law, his/her legal
			 representative shall act on his/her behalf;
(4) to fail or refuse to inform each resident
			 of the name, specialty, and way of contacting the physician responsible for his
			 or her care;
(5) to fail or refuse
			 to permit a resident or his/her legal representative, upon an oral or written
			 request, to access within 24 hours all records pertaining to himself/herself
			 including current clinical records except if otherwise prohibited by
			 law;
(6) to fail or refuse to
			 permit a resident, after receipt of his/her records for inspection, to purchase
			 at a cost not to exceed the community standard, photocopies of the records or
			 any portions thereof upon request and two working days advance notice; for
			 residents who are entitled to receive such photocopies free of charge pursuant
			 to state or federal law, to fail or refuse to provide such photocopies free of
			 charge;
(7) to fail or refuse to
			 inform the resident or· his/her legal representative, in a language the
			 resident understands, of the resident's total health status, including, but not
			 limited to, his/her medical condition;
(8) to fail or refuse to permit a resident to
			 refuse treatment, to refuse to participate in experimental research, and to
			 formulate an advance directive; to fail or refuse to comply with an advance
			 directive, except if otherwise prohibited by law;
(9) if a resident refuses treatment or drugs,
			 to fail or refuse to make prompt and good faith efforts to obtain information
			 from qualified sources about the likely consequences of a resident's refusal to
			 receive the treatment or drugs or to fail or refuse to provide the resident
			 with that information as soon as possible;
(10) to fail or refuse to respond promptly,
			 to the licensee's or administrator's best knowledge, to any inquiry by the
			 resident relating to anything in his/her medical or personal record;
(11) to fail or refuse to permit any person
			 who has a resident's written authorization to examine, at reasonable times, all
			 the medical and personal records relating to such resident, or to fail or
			 refuse to respond promptly, to the extent of the licensee's or administrator's
			 best knowledge, to any inquiry made by the person who has the resident's
			 written authorization relating to anything in the resident's medical or
			 personal records; ·
(12) to
			 release a resident's personal or medical record to any individual outside the
			 facility without the prior written authorization of the resident or his/her
			 legal representative except in case of his/her transfer to another health care
			 institution or as required by law or third-party contract;
(13) to fail or refuse to immediately inform
			 the resident, consult with the resident's physician, and, if known, notify the
			 resident's legal representative or next of kin when there is:
(a) an accident involving the resident which
			 results in injury and has the potential for requiring physician
			 intervention;
(b) a significant
			 change in the resident's physical, mental or psychosocial status,
(e.g.,
a deterioration in health, mental, or psychosocial
			 status in either life-threatening conditions or clinical
			 complications);
(c) a need to alter
			 treatment significantly
(e.g.,
a need to discontinue an
			 existing form of treatment due to adverse consequences, or to commence a new
			 form of treatment);