26 Tex. Admin. Code § 554.1912

Current through Reg. 49, No. 49; December 6, 2024

Section 554.1912 - Additional Clinical Record Service Requirements

(a) Index of admissions and discharges. The facility must maintain a permanent, master index of all residents admitted to and discharged from the facility. This index must contain at least the following information concerning each resident:

(1) name of resident (first, middle, and last);

(2) date of birth;

(3) date of admission;

(4) date of discharge; and

(5) social security, Medicare, or Medicaid number.

(b) Facility closure. In the event of closure of a facility, change of ownership or change of administrative authority:

(1) the facility must have in place written policies and procedures to ensure that the administrator's duties and responsibilities involve providing the appropriate notices, as required by § 554.2310 of this chapter (relating to Nursing Facility Ceases to Participate); and

(2) the new management must maintain documented proof of the medical information required for the continuity of care of all residents. This documentation may be in the form of copies of the resident's clinical record or the original clinical record. In a change of ownership, the two parties will agree and designate in writing who will be responsible for the retention and protection of the inactive and closed clinical records.

(c) Method of recording and correcting information. All resident care information must be recorded in ink or permanent print except for the medication, treatment, or diet section of the resident's comprehensive care plan. Correction of errors will be in accordance with accepted health information management standards.

(1) Erasures are not allowed on any part of the clinical record, with the exception of the medication, treatment, or diet section of the resident's comprehensive care plan.

(2) Correction of errors will be in accordance with accepted health information management standards.

(d) Required record retention. Periodic thinning of active clinical records is permitted; however, the following items must remain in the active clinical record:

(1) current history and physical;

(2) current physician's orders and progress notes;

(3) current RAI and subsequent quarterly reviews; in Medicaid-certified facilities, all RAIs and Quarterly Reviews for the prior 15-month period;

(4) current comprehensive care plan;

(5) most recent hospital discharge summary or transfer form;

(6) current nursing and therapy notes;

(7) current medication and treatment records;

(8) current lab and x-ray reports;

(9) the admission record; and

(10) the current permanency plan.

(e) Readmissions.

(1) If a resident is discharged for 30 days or less and readmitted to the same facility, upon readmission, to update the clinical record, staff must:

(A) obtain current, signed physician's orders;

(B) record a descriptive nurse note, giving a complete assessment of the resident's condition;

(C) include any changes in diagnoses;

(D) obtain signed copies of the hospital or transferring facility history and physical and discharge summary and a transfer summary containing this information is acceptable;

(E) complete a new RAI and update the comprehensive care plan if evaluation of the resident indicates a significant change, which appears to be permanent and if no such change has occurred, then update only the resident comprehensive care plan; and

(F) comply with § 554.805 of this chapter (regarding Permanency Planning for a Resident Under 22 Years of Age).

(2) A new clinical record must be initiated if the resident is a new admission or has been discharged for over 30 days.

(f) Signatures.

(1) The use of faxing is acceptable for sending and receiving health care documents, including the transmission of physicians' orders. Long term care facilities may utilize electronic transmission if they adhere to the following requirements:

(A) The facility must implement safeguards to assure that faxed documents are directed to the correct location to protect confidential health information.

(B) All faxed documents must be signed by the author before transmission.

(2) Stamped signatures are acceptable for all health care documents requiring a physician's signature, if the person using the stamp sends a letter of intent which specifies that he will be the only one using the stamp, and then signs the letter with the same signature as the stamp.

(3) The facility must maintain all letters of intent on file and make them available to representatives of HHSC upon request.

(4) Use of a master signature legend in lieu of the legend on each form for nursing staff signatures of medication, treatment, or flow sheet entries is acceptable under the following circumstances.

(A) Each nursing employee documenting on medication, treatment, or flow sheets signs employee's full name, title, and initials on the legend.

(B) The original master legend is kept in the clinical records office or director of nurses' office.

(C) A current copy of the legend is filed at each nurses' station.

(D) When a nursing employee leaves employment with the facility, the employee's name is deleted from the list by lining through it and writing the current date by the name.

(E) The facility updates the master legend as needed for newly hired and terminated employees.

(F) The master signature legend must be retained permanently as a reference to entries made in clinical records.

(g) Destruction of Records. When resident records are destroyed after the retention period is complete, the facility must shred or incinerate the records in a manner which protects confidentiality. At the time of destruction, the facility must document the following for each record destroyed:

(1) resident name;

(2) clinical or medical record number, if used;

(3) social security number, Medicare number, Medicaid number or the date of birth; and

(4) date and signature of person carrying out disposal.

(h) Confidentiality. The facility must develop and implement written policies and procedures to safeguard the confidentiality of clinical record information from unauthorized access.

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the facility must not allow access to a resident's clinical record unless a physician's order exists for supplies, equipment, or services provided by the entity seeking access to the record.

(2) The facility must allow access and release confidential medical information under court order or by written authorization of the resident or the resident representative, as in § 554.407 of this chapter (relating to Privacy and Confidentiality).

26 Tex. Admin. Code § 554.1912

The provisions of this §19.1912 adopted to be effective May 1, 1995, 20 TexReg 2393; amended to be effective March 1, 1998, 23 TexReg 1314; amended to be effective October 15, 1998, 23 TexReg 10496; amended to be effective May 1, 2002, 27 TexReg 2834; Amended by Texas Register, Volume 45, Number 12, March 20, 2020, TexReg 2051, eff. 3/24/2020; Entire chapter transferred from Title 40, Pt. 1, Ch. 19 by Texas Register, Volume 45, Number 50, December 11, 2020, TexReg 8871, eff. 1/15/2021