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Resident Rights42 CFR §483.10(b)
F0551 — Rights Exercised by Representative
F0551 governs how a resident's rights are exercised on their behalf by a legal representative when the resident lacks capacity, requiring the representative to act in the resident's best interest and within the scope of their legal authority.
Common Deficiency Examples
- Decisions made by someone without documented legal authority to represent the resident
- Representative's authority scope exceeded (e.g., healthcare decisions made by a financial POA only)
- Resident's own preferences not sought where the resident retains some capacity
- Documentation of representative authority missing or outdated
What Your Plan of Correction Needs
F0551 PoCs should verify and document representative authority clearly:
Gap identifiedspecific authority documentation or scope issue
Immediate actionverification of current legal authority for the resident in question
Systemic fixadmission/ongoing process for verifying and documenting representative authority
Monitoring planperiodic audit of representative documentation for residents lacking capacity
Related tags in Resident Rights
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