Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 940 CMR - OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL › Title 940 CMR 4.00 - Long Term Care Facilities › Section 4.09 - Discharge and Transfers

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 administrator
(1) to fail, in discharging or transferring a
			 resident of a nursing facility, to comply with the Division of Medical
			 Assistance regulations at
			 130 CMR 610.000
et
			 seq
., or any substitute or further amended regulations promulgated by
			 any successor state agency. Under
			 940 CMR
			 4.00, the obligation of a licensee or administrator
			 includes but is not limited to providing a resident with advance written notice
			 of the discharge or transfer, which notice shall include a statement informing
			 the resident of his or her right to request a hearing before the Division of
			 Medical Assistance. A licensee or administrator may discharge or transfer a
			 resident only for one or more of the reasons set forth in 130 CMR
			 610.220(A).
(2) to discharge or
			 transfer a resident, when a state or federal agency refuses, or ceases to
			 authorize payment for a Medicare or Medicaid resident until all administrative
			 appeals have been exhausted;
(3) to
			 discharge or transfer a resident without documentation of the reason for such
			 discharge or transfer in the clinical record by the resident's attending
			 physician, unless the health or safety of individuals in the nursing facility
			 would be endangered, in which case the reason for such discharge or transfer
			 may be documented by a physician.
(4) to move a resident to different living
			 quarters within the facility, contrary to the resident's wishes, except to meet
			 the resident's health care or safety needs which otherwise could not be met, as
			 documented in the resident's clinical record by his/her attending
			 physician;
(5) to fail or refuse to
			 readmit to the facility's next available bed in a semi-private room, a resident
			 receiving or eligible to receive public assistance who had been transferred for
			 hospitalization or therapeutic leave and whose absence exceeded the authorized
			 bed-hold leave if that resident requires the facility's services; to fail or
			 refuse to readmit to the facility's next available bed in a semi-private room,
			 a resident who had been transferred for hospitalization or therapeutic leave if
			 that resident requires the facility's services;
(6) to fail to discuss the planned discharge
			 or transfer from the facility with the resident and his/her legal
			 representative or next of kin.
(7)
			 to fail to consult the resident and his/her family or legal representative in
			 choosing another facility, and to take all reasonable steps to implement the
			 resident's choice of such facility;
(8) in an institution licensed by the
			 Department of Public Health to provide chronic disease or rehabilitative
			 services to a resident as defined by
			 940 CMR
			 4.01(12)
(a) to fail or refuse to provide, except in
			 the case of an emergency discharge or transfer, seven days advance written
			 notice to the resident of a discharge or transfer; such written notice shall
			 include:
1. the date of the discharge or
			 transfer;
2. the location to which
			 the resident is to be discharged or transferred;
3. the reason for the discharge or
			 transfer;
4. a statement informing
			 the resident of his/her right to request a hearing before the Division of
			 Medical Assistance;
5. the name,
			 address and phone number of the local legal services office;