The Long-Term Care Survey Process instructs surveyors, during the closed record review, to verify that resident personal funds were conveyed within 30 days of discharge, eviction, or death. Under §483.10(f)(10)(v), upon the discharge, eviction, or death of a resident with a personal funds account, the facility must convey within 30 days the resident’s funds, and a final accounting of those funds, to the resident, or in the case of death, the individual or probate jurisdiction administering the resident’s estate, in accordance with State law.
Recent citations have commonly occurred because the employee responsible for resident trust funds was unaware of the 30-day requirement or because communication delays between the facility and the corporate accounts receivable department resulted in missed deadlines. During the investigation, surveyors will request the facility's policy governing resident personal funds to determine whether facility practice was consistent with its own procedures. In many cited cases, facilities were unable to produce a policy addressing the timely conveyance of resident funds.