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Documentation of representative authority missing or outdated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

See the four required elements of every Plan of Correction →Generate a F0551 starter template →

Frequently Asked Questions

Does F0551 apply to every resident?+

It applies specifically when a resident's rights are being exercised on their behalf by a legal representative because the resident lacks capacity — not to residents who retain decision-making capacity themselves.